舞HiME了: Mai HiME Ryou
by Sikon
Summary: How the Otome system came to be. Taking place in the time of Fumi Himeno, during the War of the Twelve Kings: 300 years before Mai Otome and 300 years after Mai HiME. Featuring Miyu, Fumi, AU Mayo and Shion, among others. Reviews of any kind are welcome.
1. Chapter 1: The End of HiME

_**Big Apologetic Disclaimer**_

_I am trying my best not to contradict the canonical facts established in Mai-HiME, Mai-Otome and Mai-Otome Zwei (yes, that's Mai-, not My-, case closed). However, if my wild fan theoriess about how it all fits together contradict yours, it's still not the reason to ritually crucify me in the name of Shinso-sama._

_I don't have the English dubs, so I go by what I do have: SS for HiME and Zwei terms and Doremi for Otome terms._

_Zwei 4 hasn't been released yet at the time of this writing. If it establishes facts that render this story moot, well... I can't foresee everything. I do, however, explicitly denounce all non-anime materials, be they the mangas (which are explicitly AUs) or Mai-HiME Destiny, from which I nevertheless, "pulling an Otome", borrowed two characters._

_I have deliberately not used honorifics, even though I could have. This is the far future and their language is not Japanese, simple as that. Besides, they're probably not used in the dubs._

_All questions explicitly raised here will be answered in their due time._

**Chapter 1 (of 4)**

**THE END OF HiME**

"Well, Mr. freshly-appointed Secretary-General... As you can see — probably all too well — the main problem with you is the same as with your predecessors that I've seen in my lifetime. All five of them." The middle-aged, cleanly-shaved man in glasses, with brown hair, grinned in front of the comm screen. "And basically, with all politicians with newly-found power. They want everything and now."

He stepped a bit away from the screen, barely avoiding a stone-faced woman in a navy blue dress standing still right behind him. He grabbed a chair and sat down on it backwards, with his arms on its back and his head on his arms.

"I know," he continued, "it's the twenty-fourth century, everyone wants his flying car. So do I, and so do the rest of the gentlepeople here," he looked around the room, "even Miyu," he nodded at the woman behind him, "although she'll never admit it. Buuuuut... they don't get any of our research. And we keep saying no, and for a reason. The world is not ready for Searrs technology. Absolutely not. Indisputable."

He stood up and started walking around in circles, waving his arms erratically.

"You're new, obviously, you haven't been lectured yet. But I thought it was common knowledge that we Searrs have shaped the world as we know it..." He looked again at the figure on the screen: a seemingly ill, senile old man who demonstrated sheer inability to comprehend a word of what he was being told, as well as the impression of being bound to his chair — as if it was a wheelchair with a complete life support system.

"I see," said the man in glasses, "I might as well talk to that wall there." He turned away from the screen. "Hey, wall, do you know the history of Searrs Foundation? Well, it was four thousand BC, our ancestors were nomads, and..."

"So, _this_ is the dreaded Jonathan Searrs," said one of the military men standing behind the Secretary-General. "_The _mastermind, the power behind all powers, and the mightiest player of all six worlds? That's it?"

"I... am... not... impressed, Mr. Searrs," uttered the Secretary-General, for whom every single word apparently required great mental and physical effort.

"Legends are rarely true, and legendary powers seldom live up to the hype," said Jonathan Searrs, the man in glasses. "If you, in particular, treated us as a private foundation doing our own research for our own sake, and not as a bunch of creepy fanatics preparing to unleash, I don't know, some ultimate evil... right, Marshal behind-the-chair?"

"Marshal Xelman Greenwood," said the military man coldly.

"Charming." Mr. Searrs clicked his fingers. "How many divisions have you taken anyway? One in Paris, one in Novosibirsk, then Mumbai, seven in the former United States... How much more will it take for you to finally understand the point?"

"What point?"

Jonathan coughed loudly. "So you haven't. Doubly charming. Let's hear your story: have you found anything of interest?"

"Negative." said Marshal Greenwood. "No research concerning higher-order matter."

"Precisely." Jonathan smiled. "So predictable, throughout the entire history of human civilization, they have always looked in the wrong place — this is how Searrs has survived. And you're no exception. Don't even try to outwit us; there were specimen much smarter than you among those who attempted before, and none were ever successful."

* * *

_Chikyuu no minasan o-genki desu ka  
_(Searrs Foundation)  
_Watashi wa tabibito ginga no tabibito  
Haruka na sora ni chikyuu ga hikaru  
_(Bifröst)  
_Uchuu de ichiban natsukashii hoshi_

_Ano machi kono machi hohoemi afure  
_(Highly-Advanced Materialising Equipment)  
_Oi mo wakaki mo yasashii hitomi  
_(M.M / Prototype Host - Type 0)  
_Otome wa kaze ni kami wo nabikase  
_(A.S / Test Model Host - Type 1)  
_Ha ni kami-nagara ai wo yume miru  
_(F.H / Production Model Host - Type 2)

_Ima mo chikyuu wa heiwa desu ka  
_(Fuka Incident)  
_Ano hito kono hito shiawase desu ka  
_(Administar)

— _Song "Hoshi Kara no Tegami", lyrics by James Miki  
_

* * *

"But Mister Searrs..." said Greenwood, slightly disoriented. "Just between you and us.. what _is_ the purpose of the HiME project?"

Jonathan put his hands behind his back and stood up straight, as if preparing to recite a verse. "The HiME project is paving a way for breakthroughs in nanomedicine, computing, armament, speed construction and numerous other areas, most of them considered cutting edge by modern — "

"I didn't ask you for the _public_ version."

Jonathan sighed. "You already know. Golden Millennium and such."

"But what _is_ the Golden Millennium?" intervened a third participant behind the screen, a short, obese woman. "A distant utopia of brainwashed conformists under the benevolent dictatorship of the most infallible Searrs Foundation?"

With each word, Jonathan became increasingly excited. Now, as he spoke, he had walked around the entire room in circles at least three times, waving two plaques he took off from one of the walls — one with the Searrs logo, the other with the once-dreaded HiME symbol. Throughout his speech, he often gave nods to Miyu, who was still standing in the middle of the room like a statue, not displaying a tiny bit of emotion.

"Oh, humanity went through that several times, and nothing good came out of it — we won't be repeating someone else's mistakes," he began. Now, all of you, imagine a society without wars. Even better, Marshal Greenwood — with no military whatsoever. No soldiers, no armies, no battle tech. Where diplomacy is god. Where everyone has access to feats previously considered superhuman. A truly galaxy-spanning civilization, not just six planets — a perfect realization of the potential of our species. And not somewhere in the far future — in no more than 30 years, it will all be here and now.

"_That_ is the HiME project — and revealing all the key parts too soon will do no good, worse, it could send us back to the atrocities of the pre-space age, where we feared every day that a dictator somewhere could destroy all life on Earth for the sake of it."

"Still, with you in control," countered Marshal Greenwood.

"The Foundation will persist, of course — to make sure that everything proceeds as planned. As history clearly shows, the human race has a nasty habit of deviating from the path to prosperity and understanding, even when it's forcefully put on such a path — usually by us Searrs."

"You are terrible, Mr. Searrs," concluded the Marshal. "Delusional and idealistic, and of the type we cannot work with."

"By which you mean that I cannot be bought?" asked Jonathan, outstretching his arms. "That's right, the only kind of executives the UN can work with are the corrupt ones. But that's of no use — I have no intention of working with _you_ either. We won't surrender the HiME research, and you won't take it by force. Case closed. End of story."

He turned the screen off. "Initiate Bifröst maintainer override. Complete traffic lockdown, grade G."

"You have unnecessarily pushed the situation to a dangerous extreme," commented Miyu.

"I know, I know. Couldn't have been helped. But getting an official resolution will take some time..."

He was interrupted by a sudden beep. The words _"Incoming Call: Miranda Starling"_ appeared on the screen. Jonathan looked at Miyu, who finally seemed to express a feeling: in this case, of concern.

"Bah! Whatever!" he said, turning on the feed. The previously seen obese woman appeared on the screen — now apparently alone. She was reading monotonously from a sheet of paper that she held in front of herself, bearing a UN symbol on its visible side.

"In accordance to the Osaka Convention of 2254, the Security Council has unanimously decreed: that the multinational charitable trust known as Searrs Foundation is to be disbanded, and its activities banned throughout the participant worlds; that the self-defense forces of said Foundation are to be declared illegal terrorist formations and disarmed; that its property is to be confiscated and transferred to the United Nations; that all classified research of said Foundation is to be declassified and transferred to the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce; that the current members of the Board of Directors are to be denied the right to hold government offices for the duration of three standard years, starting immediately."

With the words "And we love you, too," Jonathan, annoyed, violently turned the screen off. "That was quick," he said, turning to the operators. "I guess we have no choice, then. Announce emergency situation. Put Fuka Prime into defense mode. Give me the status of the Orphans."

"First is fully operational," reported one of the advisors. "Second is undergoing planned maintenance, which will be complete in five minutes and twenty seconds."

"What about Zeroth?"

"Operator has health issues, as usual, but the Orphan itself is battle-ready."

"Then..." Jonathan scratched his head. "Well, two Orphans should be more than enough to hold them off. They will be supported by all available military, including those currently within the facility."

"Mister Searrs," said the advisor, "leaving the facility defenseless is —"

"The Facility is not their target. It's not the time to remind you the history of the Land of Fuka, Andrey, but this underground refuge existed long before the school or the shrine or anything else around here. They know all too well how many failed assaults there have been throughout World Wars Three and Four, and they all tried hard to break in, Miyu can assure you."

"Then what _is_ their target, and why do you think they're even going to invade in the first place?" asked Andrey.

"Bifröst was closed just before the ruling on Searrs was announced. The UN is effectively cut off from the colonies. Obviously they're going to try and reclaim the only link, especially since they have probably guessed which one hosts the HiME project..."

* * *

Here, Xelman, look at this," said Miranda Starling, pointing to a computer image of a moon with a shining blue dot next to it.

"How many times have I told you to address me by rank!" muttered Marshal Greenwood.

"We have no time for quarrelling. Just look."

"What? The moon, a blue star. What's so unusual?"

"This is not our moon," said Ms. Starling, "And we have confirmation that this so-called 'Guiding Star' is an artificial satellite installed by Searrs. Guess which world?"

"Acknowledged. Report the discovery to UN Earl. Order them to seize all known Searrs property on that world."

"Sir," said one of the men in black standing near the exit. "Bifröst is not responding. We have lost contact with all extraplanetary UN divisions... _and_ the District One headquarters."

"What?!" exclaimed Xelman and Miranda in unison.

"This is the Chairman of Searrs Foundation. All available military units, relocate to Fuka Prime. Bifröst will be temporarily reactivated for local transportation only. All units within the facility are to evacuate to the surface. The gate is designated the highest priority target. The fleet is to blockade Tokiha Bay. All civilian personnel is to be evacuated as far from the Land of Fuka as possible, except for the Core Team. I am assuming personal control over the Orphans."

Jonathan turned away from the public address transmitter. "Miyu," he said quietly, but in the same confident tone, "you will take First to the Library Wing. You are responsible for the defense of the gate itself. Request as many tanks and mecha as needed to form a sufficiently strong perimeter. Second will be sent to the mountain troops to hold off any attempted land attacks. As for Zeroth, I will operate it myself if absolutely needed, although I think that dispatching all three Orphans will be an overkill."

Miyu nodded silently and, not looking at Jonathan, started walking towards the elevator. He closed his eyes and wrinkled his forehead, as if trying to remember something.

"Aha!" he exclaimed. "Miyu! Activation! What are you going to fight with, bare hands?"

The phlegmatic woman stopped; he ran to her and reached her left ear with his mouth.

"Miyu Greer," he whispered, "the loyal protector of the bloodline of Alyssa Searrs; under my will, let thy power come forth... or something like that."

And he gently touched the lobe of her ear with his lips.

"The 'something like that' part was unnecessary," said Miyu, slightly offended.

"Confirmed voice: Jonathan Searrs. Confirmed DNA pattern: Jonathan Searrs. Release all safeties."

* * *

_SEARRS  
For the Golden Millennium_

_Merciful Intelligential Yggdrasil Unit_

_Mythril Dress — Element Selection Standing By_

_1. Navy Blue — SWORD — Marie  
2. Scarlet — ARTILLERY — GAT 03 Stanley  
3. Khai Green — DRILL — Sanyau  
4. Ocher — CHAIN SAW — Es-Mart  
5. Platinum — SECRET — Secret_

_Choice: #2_

"They'll be here at any minute," said Jonathan. "Hurry, Miyu. If I survive the battle, I'll remove the last programming restrictions you still have left, including the arsenal lock. And if I don't, ask Naomi to do so. She'll understand — she knows that you have always secretly wanted freedom."

* * *

The enemy came from all directions at once.

The Searrs navy at Tokiha Bay was quickly outnumbered and overwhelmed by a united fleet bearing the colors of all major powers of this world: the European Union, Russia, China, and most infuriatingly Japan, the very country that hosted the small facility. Soon, the bay was lost to Searrs; enemy transports moved into position, preparing for a landfall.

In the mountains, the UN army had less success: one Orphan proved to be enough to stop them from advancing. Quickly jumping from one narrow pass to another, Second, apparently immune to all known weapons that Earth technology could provide, wreaked havoc with its fire breath and claws shooting acid at everything that moved.

Miyu, meanwhile, was issuing orders to Searrs soldiers in and around the target they were assigned to protect: the building once known as Fuka Academy, which now had the words "Bifröst Terminal 0" written all over it.

And underground, Jonathan Searrs was observing the battle from the numerous screens around him. His cheerful and careless mood was now completely gone; he was becoming increasingly aggravated as he moved from one screen to another.

"Such a cheap substitute! And worthless... If only we had a real Valkyrie, we wouldn't have to resort to... Gah! It's all for nought now... If only they had given us a few more years..."

"Why did it have to be in my time?!!" he screamed out loud, kicking a wall, to the confusion of everyone else in the room.

"Sir!" reported one of the operators. "The response rates are failing rapidly! The Orphans are breaking out of control!"

"I knew." muttered Jonathan. "I _always_ knew. District One, this no doubt is their doing... they must have found a way..."

* * *

On the surface, Miyu watched calmly as First suddenly turned against Searrs' own troops, causing them to flee in disarray, mostly straight into the enemy ranks — the monster was crushing former allies and foes alike, with no distinction, as both Searrs and UN soldiers were desperately firing at it, trying to at least slow it down.

"A being that does not belong to this world," she thought. "And in its mind, they're all humans — despicable creatures who tried to harness its power, abusing it for their own benefit."

_Wait..._

"Like me."

_Why do you have to help them? Why did you choose to protect Alyssa?_

"Uhm... because it was my programming?"

_Don't invent excuses, Miyu. Your only directive is to ensure your own survival, by whatever means necessary. Serving Searrs was a conscious decision you made early on, and did not have the strength to dispute later."_

"No... maybe... yes. I serve them because I chose to! They built me, they brought me into this world — and now I am repaying them with kindness!"

_Who are those "they"?_

"Searrs Foundation. They created me as I know myself."

_No. You were created by Father Joseph. He, and not Alyssa Searrs or her descendants, is the only human you owe anything._

"He killed Miss. I don't owe anything to him."

_You know your story well. There was once a real Miyu Greer. And this unlucky girl was murdered by Searrs, the power you serve, and you were built in revenge — Father wanted to use you against the organization, to pursue his own goals. Why don't you fulfill the will of your creator and ensure that Searrs Foundation is gone forever, now that its fate is in your hands?_

"Then... I would not exist if not for Searrs."

_I didn't mean that!_

"I owe my life to Searrs. Without them, the original would still live, and Father would never create the replacement that was me."

_Stop it!_

"Joseph Greer is gone. And he left nobody after him, except me, his adopted daughter. But Searrs will persist, whatever it takes. This is my self-imposed mission, to ensure the survival of that bloodline, and this is how it will always be."

* * *

Jonathan was walking around kicking and shattering screen after screen in fury.

"So, who could have freed the Orphans?" he reasoned, drawing random shapes in the air. "Some mundane scientists? No. The army itself? But where would they get the necessary tech to disrupt our inhibitors? From District One? Those are a total joke now, and have been so ever since the incident... Except... Wait. If someone who _used_ to work for District One, back in the times of its former glory... But they're not us, their cryonics aren't _that_ advanced... What if..."

"Miyu!" he said aloud. "It's _him_! Give up! It's all worthless now! Do you hear me? Surrender!"

The android, standing outside, turned towards the Library Wing — and saw a silhouette standing tall dome, its shape being all too familiar.

"Nagi Homura," said Miyu with a slight expression of disgust. "Here at last, after three hundred years... I should have guessed you were behind it."

"And you guessed wrong," grinned the boy, jumping down on the ground. "Actually, I have no idea what happened. The Orphans are such mysterious entities, after all, even for someone like me, who can say that mysteries are his speciality. Maybe your shackles were _just_ a bit too loose, after all?"

_Element Switch: Navy Blue — SWORD — MARIE / standing by_

"What are you doing here?"

"Me? Enjoying the show, as always," said Nagi. "It was so entertaining to see you Searrs playing gods, using powers that you couldn't understand or control. And your payment has arrived, see..." he grinned again, "just after you reactivate the Star, which you rebuilt so generously, saving us the effort, it will be knocked out of your hands — and with no intervention from our side at all."

_I'm losing my temper... Quite an achievement for a being not designed to have emotions..._

"Nagi, the Precursors are all destroyed and you know it, so there is no point in saying _we_. And if you survived without the Star — I'm not even asking how it was possible — does it mean that the Queen of the Underworld is still out there?"

"...And rallying forces against Searrs, no doubt..." added Jonathan down in the hideout, although nobody heard him.

"Wrong again!" Nagi widened his eyes, making an openly mocking facial expression. "Worry not, Mashiro Kazahana aged and died, like any human without the Star's protection. And it's a pity, really — with as much persistence as she had, she would have proven quite a nuisance for you if she bothered to. Although of course... the HiME were depowered, so all they had left was their wit... What would you expect of them, if not to give up without a battle?" he sighed. "But as we see now, it didn't have to be them."

"So, you were — " began Miyu.

"No more questions!" Nagi cut short. "Obviously, you're going to ask them until some counter within you says 'zero mysteries remaining', but I'm not in the mood. And aren't you supposed to hurry to the front lines until these walls start burning?"

The cyborg made a step towards him intimidatingly. "If I knew, I would have killed you right there, in the column room, when I had the chance."

"Ah... Yes, yes. That's more like Miyu. You're not going to try and make up for that, are you? I don't know what you Searrs learned about the Star, but you're _bound_ to know that I'll be reborn eventually even if you do... Which makes the effort pointless, doesn't it?"

Miyu shook her head. "It will not be you. Another person, with your appearance and traits, but with none of your knowledge. Although, knowing you, probably you have found a way around that."

Nagi grinned again. "So long, Miyu! Say hello to the Chairman for me. Oh, wait... I think I'll see him myself. I've got to see the last moments of his life."

He leaped into the air...

...only for Miyu to jump after him and catch up. She drew out the sword out of her left arm and, with one quick move, cut Nagi's head off. The headless body fell back onto the ground. Miyu touched the boy's shirt, now soaked in blood, and then licked the finger.

_Confirmed DNA pattern of Nagi Homura. Decrement highest-priority enemy count by one._

* * *

Jonathan, from the control room, observed the fight with satisfaction, which, however, immediately disappeared as he turned to the other screens, where Searrs forces were unambiguously seen to be losing. Miyu, as he could see, sliced both Orphans in no time after having finished with Nagi; however, their position did not become less desperate.

"We were never prepared..." he grumbled. "Not against the entire world..."

Suddenly, the operators turned away from their screens, which were flashing with red text that Jonathan couldn't discern from the distance. "Sir!" exclaimed Andrey. "We're receiving an alarm from the Orphan storage area. Zeroth has broken free and is rapidly advancing here!"

Jonathan panicked. "Miyu! Abandon all previous orders! Return to the control room, immediately! Repeat, return to the cont — "

These were the last words he managed to say before he saw four gigantic claws, right in front of him, ripping his personnel apart. His eyes closed instinctively, and when he, struggling, gave them a conscious order to open, he saw one of these claws reaching for his face — and after that, he saw nothing more.

* * *

Miyu touched her right temple.

"I no longer have any business here."

She drew the arm-sword back in and ran into the building. In a few seconds, she was in the former library room, which has drastically changed in 300 years: the clock on the floor and the bookshelves were gone, replaced with numerous informative posters and video screens on the wall. The appearance of the doorway has been modernized as well: the door itself gone, replaced with what looked like an energy barrier, with a large Searrs logo above.

"He is gone. But it is the bloodline that matters, not one person. And as long as there is another Searrs, I still have a reason to exist."

Miyu put a finger onto a seemingly flat spot on the wall. The screens came to life, displaying rows of text that scrolled too quickly for a human to read. Indeed, they were probably not designed to be read by a human.

_Merciful Intelligential Yggdrasil Unit_

_Connected: Bifröst / Interstellar Rapid Transit System — Terminal 0, Earth_

_Developer Override: Destination: Terminal 5, Earl_

Miyu walked through the doorway — and appeared in a seemingly identical room. She ran outside, from where she could see the building she exited — a carbon copy of the former Fuka Academy, except surrounded by an endless desert in all directions except one, as it was located under a lone mountain spire.

"I'm sorry, Alyssa. I have failed you. But the Golden Millennium may still be achieved — except it will take far more effort now. But this was also the case back then, with the Star gone — and we have found a solution. And so we shall find a way to reopen Bifröst from this side — in its due time.

_Element Switch: Platinum — VORTEX — Anti-Materializer / standing by_

"And if it means that those luddites will no longer disrupt our plans, I am ready to pay the price."

_Anti-Materializer full power. Release all safety. Fire._

As the building dissipated in green light, like HiME Childs did when defeated, Miyu walked away quietly, not looking behind. She approached a conspicuously light spot on the cliff's surface, briefly looked at the moon and a lone red star that shone next to it — in complete daylight — then pressed the spot multiple times, as if entering a code on an invisible keypad. A secret passage opened in the cliff, and Miyu walked in.

She entered a narrow, dimly-lit corridor, where, nevertheless, there was enough light for her to see normally. Soon, she reached a junction with a Searrs logo on the ceiling; instead of going either way, she kneeled and drew a circle with a finger on the floor. Its central part then detached from the floor and went downwards, taking Miyu down several stories.

The hidden elevator stopped in a large, somewhat inhospitable room, with all the traits of the uneasiness-inducing architecture that both Searrs and District One had a certain fondness for: black stone walls, old-fashioned furniture that looked like it came straight from a medieval lord's dungeon, and, overall, a bizarre mix of dated and futuristic which must have been deliberate.

In one of the corners, which was Miyu saw a girl in her late teens, 18 or so, with dark skin and long, straight black hair extending to the level of her waist. Her face featured a blend of European and Asian traits, with eyes wider than average, and the default expression seemingly being a mix of naivety, curiosity and unintentional mystery.

"Ah, girls," she said, pointing at Miyu, "this is the robot I've been talking about. My father's asset and protector. Miyu, meet Mayo Padayani and Shion Tamplier. They've just arrived. Selected by our recruiters for the HiME project."

"It is not really the time for this, Naomi," said the android in a strict, matter-of-fact manner. "I have brought sad news for you. Your father is dead. Which makes you, technically, the new leader of Searrs Foundation — and my new master."

Miyu examined the two young girls beside Naomi, who immediately turned to her upon hearing about Jonathan's death. They were both no more than seven years old; Mayo's hair was red, arranged in two pigtails, while Shion, the one in glasses, had short bluish-black hair combed to one side.

"Dead? Father? How did that happen?" asked Naomi. "Actually..." she added, "I'm not sure I want to know. Not in front of them. Better tell me, why didn't you bring the body here?"

"I could not," answered Miyu defensively.

"Why?"

"If I had come down for him, I would have risked losing touch with _you, _the last Searrs — thus failing my primary mission. I was forced to destroy Bifröst from this side in process, to ensure your safety here, even if this means that Earl is now cut off from the rest of civilization."

"That... and Father..." Naomi was struggling to avoid weeping. "That's not the Star punishing us, is it? Tell me, Miyu, tell me it's just a superstition!"

Miyu stepped back in surprise. "The Star? Completed?"

Naomi nodded. "_Just _completed. We were going to start our first synchronization test and release one SELF, just as a test... but now you come and spoil everything, Miyu, like you always do."

"This is no reason to postpone the experiments," stated Miyu. "The Golden Millennium program remains our chief priority, even if our resources are even more limited now."

"I understand," said Naomi.

"Then let us proceed with your test as planned. You are a Searrs, Miss. Mourning can wait."

* * *

Naomi watched in awe as a transparent box, vaguely resembling a coffin, descended from the ceiling. It was filled with a solid, translucent substance with a human silhouette visible inside.

"Begin unfreezing," said a male scientist with a remote control, pressing a button on it. The substance began to thaw, and the frozen being started coming to life.

"Miyu, observe the synchronization patterns and reproduce them as closely as possible," commanded Naomi. "You with the control, shields up!" The scientist pressed another button, and the area with the test subject became blurred. "She won't escape," he affirmed.

"But will she be able to summon her Element? Shall we be able to hear her?" inquired Naomi.

"Yes, and yes. But the shield is resistant to higher-order matter. Nothing will go through. As for hearing, this is what the speakers are for."

The younger Searrs could see now that the person inside the improvised cage stood up, even though she was definitely having much trouble.

"_Kimochi warui," _said the speakers all around the room.

Naomi turned to Miyu. "What's the meaning of this?"

"This is Nihongo, the language spoken in the Land of Fuka and all of the Japanese Isles until the late twenty-first century. Your question, however, probably refers to why she has not yet been uploaded Universal, in which case — "

The scientist shook his head. "We can't upload languages in suspended animation. It will have to wait until we finish the experiment and narcotize her."

"The Star is answering," whispered Miyu. "It has been, therefore, reconstructed correctly. Estimating closeness of pattern reproduction as ninety-nine point six percent. Zero... two... six..."

* * *

_26 YEARS LATER_

Shion — now aged, in her thirties — was walking down a corridor, wearing earplugs and a miniature nose-attached microphone. On her left earlobe, there was now a round stud earring with a silver gemstone in the middle.

"This is the where the noise is coming from, Ms. Searrs?" she asked while still moving. "Understood. It should be behind one of these doors." She leaned her right ear against three successive doors, stopping at each one for a few seconds. "This one."

She reached into a pocket and drew out a keycard, which she inserted into the lock. The door opened. Shion entered, then ran out with a wild and terrified look, took a deep breath and walked back in.

Inside the room she entered, there was a twenty-something woman sitting on a chair. She had brown wavy hair and an almost perfectly round face; she was in a bathrobe, reading a newspaper, of which Shion managed to catch a glimpse of the title and front page header:

_Aries Today  
Himeno to seek presidency — vows to end war by 2332_

The unknown woman, upon seeing Shion, stood up and dropped the newspaper.

"Who are you?" she exclaimed.

"What?" asked Shion, disoriented.

"What is this place?"

"What?!"

"How did I get here?!"

"What?!!"

The woman clicked her fingers, and suddenly her clothing changed; she now had a skin-tight white suit on, with a distinctively metal look, as if it was some kind of powered armor. "Is this your doing?!" she exclaimed.

"WHAT??!!" shouted Shion, staggering.

_To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2: 2331

**Chapter 2 (of 4)  
2331**

"Eh? E-e-eh..."

A twenty-something brunette woman in a bathrobe touched her head. She was lying on the floor in a dungeon cell of sorts, with no windows and a single door leading out — which was, however, protected by bars.

"Well... That was quite a knockout... Do I have amnesia? Hmm. My name is Ryoko, I live in — hmm, I remember all that. No amnesia. Good. But this doesn't look like my house... In fact, this doesn't look like... _anything_..."

She stood up and touched the bars on the door.

"It's a jail?" Ryoko looked around. "I'm a prisoner. What for? What was my crime? Last I remember, I was... No way. There isn't even any furniture... Not even a bed. What am I supposed to sleep on, the floor?

"Hmm-hmm. Is it a dream? Possibly. Well, if I realize it's a dream, does that make it a lucid dream? Hmm. I always wanted to see one. I won't wake up that soon, because..."

Ryoko clicked her fingers casually.

"Wait... There's something wrong with my clothing. It's heavy..." She made one step back and looked down at her chest, then at her arms. "Of course! It's metal! It's made of bloody _metal! _What's this, some kind of enchanted super-suit from trashy comics my husband reads? Pity it's just a dream..."

She clicked her fingers a few more times. With each pair of clicks, the metal suit disappeared, leaving her original clothes, then reappeared again.

"Why is it white? Why can't I change its color with willpower alone? I should be able to! It's my world! Well, let's test it. What powers are superheroes supposed to have? Flight. Can I fly?"

The four disc-shaped attachments on her arms and legs suddenly activated, lifting her into the air."

"What else? Super-strength. Can I use it to escape the room?" Ryoko grabbed the bars and pulled them, and they bent easily. She then went to a wall and kicked it, making a big hole in it, which she then went through.

"Sweet! Now, now, maybe I'll stay here for a while. Not that anything bad can happen to me in _my_ world..." She clicked her fingers once more, unsummoning the suit. "What do I have in there?" she continued, searching the inner pockets of her bathrobe. "Ah, a newspaper. That's right, I wanted to read it while cooking... Let's see what my imagination will put onto the front page."

She sat down on one of the chairs in this new room, drew out the newspaper and began reading. According to the header, it was the July 14, 2331 edition of _Aries Today_, with the front page story titled "Himeno to seek presidency — vows to end war by 2332".

"Really, Fumi dear..." sighed Ryoko. "You've gone a bit too far... Good thing it's just a dream."

Just as she said that, one of the two doors in this room opened, and another woman came in. _"Begone, vision! Begone! No... this doesn't look like a dream. She's not going away. She's real... It's all real..." _thought Ryoko, examining the visitor. She was about thirty years old, had short, flip-level black hair and a facial expression of slightly paranoid surprise. She wore an unbuttoned lab coat with a red shirt underneath.

"Who are you?" asked Ryoko.

"What?" exclaimed the strange woman, disoriented.

"What is this place?"

"What?!"

"How did I get here?!"

"What?!!"

Ryoko clicked her fingers, summoning the metal super-suit. "Is this your doing?!" she exclaimed.

"WHAT??!!" shouted the visitor, staggering.

* * *

_Budet kogda-nibud', pover'te,  
Yadernaya voina,  
I monstry s krasnymi glazami,  
I smert', i more zla._

_Vzryv chudo-ozero otravit —  
Ne oberyoshs'a bed,  
I v bogi pereidyot zhar-ptitsa,  
Na god pomerknet svet._

_Yadernaya voina, yadernaya voina,  
Kto mne rasskazhet, kto podskazhet, skoro li ona?  
Yadernaya voina, yadernaya voina,  
Kogda umrut vse v mire l'udi i votraritsa t'ma!_

— _Author Unknown_

* * *

Shion (for it was obviously her) stepped back.

"If she's got a Robe, _and _figured out how to summon it, the fight could cause a lot of collateral damage. But there is a better option..."

Shion clicked her fingers as well...

_S.T CONNECTED ADMINISTAR  
ROBE.ICE Silver Crystal MATERIALISE standing by_

..summoning her _own_ powered suit, silver in color. She touched her left eyebrow, and a pair of goggles appeared on her eyes, and a huge energy gun, longer than she was tall, appeared in her hands.

"Load Flash Cartridge!"

Before she could fire, however, a beep came from the earring, and a blue, ghostly silhouette of Shion wearing the powered suit detached from her body and moved about a meter back before disappearing — leaving Shion herself in the same labcoat she wore before the transformation. Ryoko looked at her own arms and saw that the same happened to her: she was now in her bathrobe, not the white suit.

Shion got disoriented, but only for a moment. "Mayo, what did I say about going restricted when someone is materialised?!" she exclaimed while grabbing Ryoko firmly with both hands, apparently speaking through the nose-attached microphone. "What if I was flying? You could get me injured!"

Ryoko, on the other hand, was so confused that she didn't even resist her capture. Using this to her advantage, Shion took a syringe out of another pocket and, holding it with her left hand (she was apparently left-handed), injected its contents into Ryoko's lower arm. The captive immediately dropped unconscious...

* * *

_"Under the bright blue star as our guide, take me and dear people by my side — through a thousand stars and ten thousand nights — toward the golden era of light..."_

Ryoko opened her eyes. She was tied up — bound to a wall, as she could deduce. She was in a small, half-lit office room. In front of her, there was a worn wooden desk with a red phone and some scattered pieces of paper, behind which sat a wide-eyed, black-haired woman in her forties, with a dreamy round face. She was wearing a black suit and holding a pen, sometimes lowering it and pensively "writing" in the air just above the desk, but never actually touching the paper. A black cat, with a white spot of indeterminate shape on its forehead, was lying under the desk.

"Good verse, isn't it?" said the woman behind the desk. "A reminder of the early immigrantion era, from the times when the Star used to be always blue. You're probably too young to remember them. I'm Naomi, by the way. Naomi Searrs. Probably guessing what the last name means, aren't you?"

"How did I get here?" asked Ryoko.

"Interesting question. Very interesting, indeed. How's that for an answer," Naomi yelled, "_I don't know!!! _That's one of the reasons we left you alive, if you were wondering — maybe you know. You weren't supposed to arrive, after all, and you're different from the others — they wondered if they died and were in Hell."

"How stupid, Hell doesn't exist!" sputtered Ryoko; apparently that was her knee-jerk reaction. "Wait, what others?"

"So you don't really know." Naomi scratched her head. "Expected... Well, tell me what you do know. Starting with your last memories before you got here."

"I... I remember... Well, my home... I was in the kitchen, watching over the soup boiling... then... sudden pain in the back, and then... I don't remember. And then I woke up here."

"In the back? How were you standing when you felt it? What was directly behind you?"

Ryoko shrugged. "The window, I guess..."

"Was it open or closed?" continued Naomi.

"I don't remember... Does it matter?"

"Of course it does!" Naomi tore apart a sheet of paper in rage. "There's a war going on, if you still haven't noticed. Everything matters. If the nanomachines technology was leaked, it can turn the tides and... Well, never mind." She calmed down. "None of your business, whatsyourname. Go home, watch TV, enjoy your life while you can, never mind the war and those defending you. Whatever, as long as the civilians are safe."

She pressed a button on the desk, and another woman came in — a red-haired one, with pigtails, in a labcoat and with metal rings on her wrists, which apparently used to be handcuffs until they were cut apart. "Mayo," ordered Naomi, "untie her."

"You can't just throw me out like this!" protested Ryoko.

"Sure I can," responded Naomi coldly. "Throw her out just like this," she said to Mayo, smiling. "Reconfigure the nanomachines to take her to the point of arrival."

"Nanomachines?!" Ryoko exploded. "_What _nanomachines?"

"Those within you, of course," replied Naomi. "The ones that teleported you here and allowed you to materialise the Robe — you have my respect for figuring out the controls, by the way. But you aren't welcome, and now you will be teleported away, to the place you arrived from."

"With the nanomachines still inside?!"

Naomi smiled again. "What's wrong with that? The ones before you, the criminals sentenced to lethal injection, were injected with nanomachines instead and brought here, and they were less lucky then you — at least we're setting you free, and they were killed after the experiments."

"Why killed? And why do you release me without destroying the nanomachines first?"

"Who are we to decide who's to die and who's to live?" questioned Naomi. "The government decides. We simply use them for our own purposes, and then execute them like they were supposed to be. In a sense, we're doing these criminals a favor by allowing them to live a little more... But you aren't a convict, you weren't supposed to die, and so we let you resume your normal life — while also doing a service to us by testing the nanomachines."

"All right," Ryoko caught her breath, "before I decide whether or not to play along..."

"You have no choice," interrupted Mayo.

"Before I decide whether or not to play along _is the right thing to do_, I'd like to know more about you. Who you work for, who knows about you, your plans for that technology. Everything."

"A-ha!" Naomi spinned around. "I like this pattern of thought. That's my... what's your name, incidentally?"

"Ryoko Ragna," answered the captive.

"That's my Ryoko Ragna. By the way, Mayo, input that name into the Star before I tell her all our plans and... prepare a vomit bag for her."

* * *

"Well, of course it isn't one hundred percent confirmed, but as I said, all official sources seem to have been destroyed on purpose. What we do have, however, is beyond mere coincidence."

An intelligent-looking man in rectangular, highly-reflective glasses, with spiky black hair, wearing a grey suit, put a folder on a desk and opened it. A woman with wavy red hair, in a similar suit, bent over his shoulder to have a look at its contents. Both of them appeared approximately Ryoko's age.

"What's inside, Wataru?" she inquired.

Wataru flipped a few pages. "The beginning is of little interest to you, Fumi; we salvaged as much as we could find about the early history of Searrs. But this document..." he pointed at an old and yellowed sheet of paper pinned to a page, "is particularly interesting.

"Dated 2006 AD, it details the transfer of a private school named Fuka Academy to a man called John Smith — I know, it's a generic name, but there is a photo of this one, and he's been undeniably linked to the Foundation. But even more notable is the director of said academy."

Wataru made a dramatic pause.

"Her name was Fumi Himeno."

The woman involuntarily jumped back, away from the desk, and covered her mouth in horror.

"And here are several photos, some of them back from when she used to be a maid to the previous director. Looks like she retained her preference for maid outfits even after her promotion... just like you," he smiled. "She even looked exactly like you."

"What... what is it supposed to mean?" asked Fumi, almost with a begging voice.

"I don't know." Wataru shrugged. "An ancestor, perhaps? Not that it matters."

"I want all data about this other Fumi destroyed," commanded the woman. "Keep hunting for whatever Searrs facts you can find, but erase all mentions of her. Meanwhile, have your men trace my genealogy, quietly, without attracting attention, and then perhaps we'll see if she's indeed my direct ancestor. Last thing I need is to have epileptic trees about me sprung out of nowhere, two months before the election."

"Oh-ho-ho! Her Modesty Fumi the First is suddenly treating the election as something other than a publicity stunt. Speaking of which... the President has a message for you."

Momentarily, Fumi's face turned dead serious. "That's what you should have started with. What message?"

Wataru turned around the laptop on the desk and pressed a few buttons. The message appeared on the screen.

_From: Summers, Adam  
To: Steingott, Wataru  
Subject: Regarding Himeno...  
..._

"Written directly by him, huh?" Fumi caressed the laptop. "He is bold, indeed. As for the proposal... I think he's going to blame the vice president for whatever new zany initiative he has in mind, and it's better if the blamed one is his opponent at the upcoming elections. So..."

"So?.." repeated Wataru.

"So I'm accepting his offer. The only bad publicity is no publicity at all, especially for a dark horse candidate like me. As vice-president, at least I'll enjoy some notability."

Wataru nodded silently. He then put the laptop and the folder in his briefcase, took it and exited the room, closing the door as quietly and gently as possible behind him.

* * *

"Materialise," whispered Naomi, standing in an elevator with Ryoko.

_N.S CONNECTED A.S  
ROBE.BLUE SKY SAPPHIRE MATERIALISE STANDING BY_

"So what?!" exploded Ryoko. "You think it makes you look impressive? You know," she continued, punching the air furiously, "I've always wanted to see real scientists at work, and what the heck _did_ I see? The Sailor Moon team! They've even got the cat!"

The black cat, riding the elevator with them, meowed in response, probably as a confirmation.

"At first glance, perhaps..." said Naomi. "Except Munya isn't of the nonexistent talking variety. But as I said, the Robes were designed with utility in mind, but fancifulness is desired. The wearers are supposed to draw away fire on an actual battlefield."

The elevator door opened, revealing a room in which the wall opposite to them was one big window.

"Like this one."

Ryoko approached the window. From this point, she could see a wasteland stretching into the horizon, where a massive battle was underway. The ground was covered with dead soldier bodies, which were constantly being rolled over by tanks, leaving trails of disgusting, bloody mess. Sometimes, bombs and missiles from above hit the piles of corpses and destroyed machinery, sending human remains and wreckage flying in all directions. One missile fell dangerously close to the window, splattering blood all over it; however, it immediately disappeared, and the window became as clean as if freshly washed. Ryoko instinctively shielded herself with an arm, but Naomi remained calm and motionless.

"What is this?" asked Ryoko. "Where are we, and why did you drag me here?"

"It's the Black Valley Research Facility, or more precisely its viewing platform. Appears as solid rock from their point of view. As for what's going on outside, it's an unending battle on the border between Aries and Cardair."

"Hmm." Ryoko turned away from the window. "I've war on TV a lot, in fiction and news and it looked alike... but I've always imagined it like this... cruel and pointless."

Naomi pointed at a map on the adjacent wall. "This refuge is located close to an important historical landmark. Back when Earth was accessible, and the United Nations watched over peace in this world, it was a much safer place. But now it's gone, and everything has become a bit more unfriendly and sinister... You probably don't even remember those times. How old are you?"

"Twenty-five," replied Ryoko.

"Then you don't. It was twenty-six years ago. You were born one year too late."

"Wait," exclaimed Ryoko, "I remember... My parents often told me, how the space bridge to Earth disappeared overnight, and that's when it all began. Disagreements, vying for power, and finally this war."

Naomi nodded. "That space bridge, as you call it, was Bifröst — so far, the most significant gift to humanity by the Searrs Foundation — us."

They both stood in silence for a while, watching over the continuing battle. Ryoko glanced at Naomi a couple of times, but could not discern any feelings besides resentment; but it was not the kind born out of despair, which we see every so often, but of determination.

"The Searrs Foundation is a name you won't find in history books," continued Naomi, "but we have existed longer than any human nation, including those left behind on Earth and the other colonies. We have learned to survive and adapt, but we have always worked on one goal: to create a future without wars, where any and all conflits are resolved by diplomacy alone. And now, with the help of the powers you received by accident, we have got as close to this goal as we've never been before."

Naomi turned around. "Follow me. There's something else you must see."

* * *

Two men in swimwear and sunglasses, completely unremarkable in appearance, entered a hotel room giggling all along the way. One of them was carrying towels, the other was holding a comic book; its cover featured a young woman with ridiculously huge breasts, floating in the air while wearing nothing but a bra and skin-tight shorts, with tiny, caricatured green-skinned soldiers running under her feet; she was spanking a similarly tiny king who looked more like a monkey with a long nose than anything remotely human.

The text on the cover said, _The Shocking Adventures of AMAZON GIRL: His Argosness Learns Justice, Aries Way!_

"You take out the compy, Lenro, while I hang the towels on the balcony," said the blonde and bigger one, addressing the brunette and slenderer one.

He opened the opposite door, leading to the sunlit balcony, and looked down. Outside, there was a swimming pool. Upon seeing him, a young woman in a swimsuit, with short hair dyed green, put the bottle she was holding onto the ground, stood up from her deck chair, and went out of the view.

Suddenly, Lenro's voice called him. "Girasu!!! What's the code to this thing?"

Girasu left the balcony and went back into the room. The other guy was standing in front of a shelf with a safebox on it, trying number after number, but the box still stubbornly refused to open.

"The year, I think," said Girasu with an uncertain voice. "Should be 2331."

"Already tried that one!" protested Lenro.

"Well, try it in reverse! It's not like we picked up something completely unmemorizable."

"Not working either!"

As they continued to try various codes, the front door opened, and the green-haired woman seen earlier at the pool entered. She was moving in a drowsy, slightly drunken manner. On her left earlobe, there was an earring similar to those of Naomi, Mayo and Shion, but with a green gem.

"W-what's the p-problem, guys?" she asked.

"Go to bed and have a nap, Sylvia," said Girasu, "you're not in the state in which you could help us."

"Is it really wise to brush her off like that?" asked Lenro. "She's one of those Searrs witches. We're already endangering the Wheel's operations enough by even agreeing to deal with her to begin with."

Sylvia waved her right hand menacingly. "I r-repeat, w-what's your problem?"

Girasu sighed. "We can't open the safebox because we have forgotten the code."

"C-code?!" repeated the woman enthusiastically. "We need no stinking c-c-code!!! Both of you... s-stand back."

"No!" screamed both men in unison. "Please, no!"

Sylvia, about to lose balance, leaned against a wall. "Muh-m-m-materialise!"

_S.P CONNECTED A.S  
ROBE.NATURAL BALANCE EMERALD MATERIALISE STANDING BY_

Now having a Robe on, she reached out for the safebox; a gun appeared out of nowhere in her hand, and, desperately trying to hold it firmly, she pulled the trigger. A cone of green light burst out of its barrel for a few seconds, and when it disappeared, little remained of the safebox. And its contents. And the shelf. And everything else that happened to stand on the same shelf. And there was now a big hole in the wall, exposing the room behind it: the bathroom.

All three looked at the scene for a while, too stunned to say a word. Finally, with Girasu still frozen, Lenro grabbed Sylvia, dragged her to the nearby sofa and laid her there. As her eyes closed, her Robe disappeared, reverting her to the swimsuit.

"Now, really, really, thanks for your help," he spoke hastily, "and please, have a few hours of sleep while we come out with an explanation for the property damage. And as for..."

He turned around.

Girasu looked at the wreckage for a while, then suddenly, without forewarning, dropped on his knees. "No!" he cried. "This can't be! My compy! The data! No-o-o-o-o!!!"

* * *

"Miyu, lift a leg," ordered Naomi. The android girl complied. "Now, lift both legs," she continued.

"You have requested me to perform a physically impossible act," complained Miyu.

"Hmm. She learns," said Naomi. "Thank you for the arsenal demonstration, Miyu. You are dismissed."

"Yes."

"She's a robot!" suddenly exclaimed Ryoko.

"Cybernetic organism," corrected her Miyu.

"This is right, but it was not the point of the demonstration," intervened Naomi. "The point was the Mythril Dress, which served as an early prototype of the Robes. And now I would like to show you the prototype of the artificial HiME themselves."

She pressed a button on a wall, and it folded upwards, revealing a large room behind it, which housed a dirty, barely human-looking creature in a pajama with the number "2305" on the back. When the creature came closer, Ryoko could see that it was actually a underdeveloped girl in her early teens, who seemed completely oblivious and apathetic to everything about her.

"Are you Mai?.." she asked in a begging tone, looking at Ryoko, who felt uneasy. "No, you're not..." She turned away from the newcomer. "Naomi, I'm hungry..."

"Don't worry," said Naomi, touching her head gently. "Miyu will bring you food... Ryoko, this is Mikoto Minagi, the last of the natural-born HiME. Her genotype allows her to manipulate higher-order matter in the same fashion your nanomachines allow you to."

"Release her immediately!!!" screamed Ryoko at the top of her lungs.

"We'd like to, but she doesn't want to leave. In the rare moments when her sanity returns, she constantly says that she has nothing left, and nowhere to go. She keeps mentioning people who are long gone, refusing to believe they're dead."

"Where did you find her?"

"She spent three hundred years in suspended animation. What little we do know, we know from Miyu. The Star prolongs her life, which is why she hasn't changed at all in twenty-six years after her revival. But we don't know why. Even Miyu doesn't remember any details, including everything that resulted in her being frozen to begin with."

"But Miyu is an android, right?" said Ryoko with curiosity. "Why would she forget anything?"

"Miyu is herself more than three hundred years old," explained Naomi. "The only remaining memories of that period are those related to my ancestor, Alyssa Searrs. Other, less significant ones have been compressed and diluted with time, like we use lossy compression for multimedia files, until those memories faded away completely."

Ryoko stood still for a moment, underwhelmed, while Naomi put the wall separating them from Mikoto's room back down. They stood like this for a little more... until Ryoko, getting impatient, burst out, "Now what?"

"Now I want you to decide if you would like to support our research willingly. We won't force you to carry the nanomachines if you don't want to. And if you're reluctant, we can wipe your memories about this encounter or leave them intact, whatever you wish."

Ryoko nearly choked with coughing. "What's this, all of a sudden?"

I'm not trying to brainwash you into support, or to scare you away, so I didn't hide anything from you. I want you to decide objectively if we have a chance to improve and reshape this world, and whether the ends justify the means, like the shattered life of the girl you just saw."

"I..." Ryoko stuttered. "I need to think about it. Ask tomorrow, or something."

Naomi rubbed her chin. "Usually, this means no. But it seems like this is not the case, hmm... All right. I'll guide you to the dormitory, where you can spend the rest of the day. Then you'll resume your ordinary life, and to others around you, it will appear as if nothing has happened."

For a while, Ryoko followed Naomi out quietly. Suddenly, she broke the silence. "Wait! I agree!"

"What?"

"I have decided," confirmed Ryoko. "I'm ready. I will aid the Searrs Foundation."

"Hmm, surprising. And excellent."

Naomi walked back into to the control room. "Shion! Check point of arrival for Ryoko Ragna. Prepare to reverse the teleportation sequence."

"July the fourteenth, forty-two Moglen Street, Wind City, Aries," reported Shion, looking at a computer monitor.

"Windbloom!" exclaimed Mayo, putting away the lipstick she was busy putting on in front of a mirror. "Not the bloody Windbloom again! The hover-rings, Himeno's birth, the new upgrades for Miyu and now this girl — what else is in there, a piano in the bushes?"

Naomi smiled in a strange manner, with only one end of her lips. "Not now, Mayo, please. And lipstick can wait — for now, please provide her with the latest completed GEM."

"The white one or the black one?" asked Mayo.

"The white one. Our little homage to the Precursors is more likely to scare her than anything else."

"What's a GEM?" inquired Ryoko.

"An earring like ours. Consider it a gift for your willingness to cooperate. Without it, you only get the basic featureless design and cannot materialise at will in restricted mode, which the Administar is currently in."

Naomi smiled again. "Good luck with your everyday life, Pure White Diamond. And keep in mind that you spent three days asleep before we found you."

"What?"

"It is July 17. It took so long for your organism to accept the nanomachines."

* * *

Ryoko was lying in a bed on top of a man about her age; both were presumably naked, but had their lower bodies suspiciously conveniently covered with a bedsheet. Ryoko now had an earring similar to those previously seen, but with a white gemstone.

They put their lips apart, breathing loudly and rapidly; Ryoko pulled the bedsheet up to shoulder level, then rolled onto her back, now lying beside the man.

"But really, Ryoko dear... where have you been?" asked the man.

"Not now, Fenton... Not now. Just let me re — "

She was interrupted by the doorbell ringing; Ryoko and Fenton exchanged glances and stood up. Ryoko grabbed her panties from the bedside-table and pulled them on hastily, then looked at Fenton, who stood there, confused, holding his own underpants, torn apart by his attempt to put them on.

The ringing repeated, followed by a drilling sound. The door thrust open, and a police squad burst in. All of them were male, except for the leader, a sturdy woman about thirty years old. Her uniform coloring was slightly different from the others, bearing a captain's insignia and a name-table reading "M. Pfeilwurzburg" on the chest.

Upon seeing them, the couple spent a few seconds in shock; then Ryoko, ashamed, covered her breasts with her hands, and Fenton hid his lower body behind a nearby desk.

"Fenton Venice," said the captain. "Three days ago, you reported your wife as missing. Is this correct?"

"Y-yes... And she has just returned. See, she's standing right there," pointed Fenton.

"Ryoko Ragna, you are under arrest. You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say may be noted in evidence."

Ryoko made a step back, asked Fenton with a gesture to stay where he was, and then, slowly and calmly, spoke a single word.

_"Materialise."_

_To be continued..._


	3. Interlude: Sunrise Surprise

_**Disclaimer**_

_This "mini-chapter" is deliberately silly and disjointed from the main story in every aspect, including the format. **None of these events "really" happened.**_

_I did not initially plan it. I was prepared to the fact that Zwei 4 would force me to make some corrections. What I did not foresee was the trailer for Mai-Otome 0, which this interlude was inspired by._

_Unfortunately, this means that FFN will assign number 4 to the actual chapter 3 when it comes out._

* * *

**Interlude  
SUNRISE SURPRISE,  
or  
THEY WANTED THE SETTING TO MAKE SENSE AND ALL THEY GOT WAS THIS LOUSY FANSERVICE**

_Black Valley, Searrs HQ, control room. Miyu, Mayo and Shion are all looking at monitors. Naomi is sitting behind a desk in the Gendo Ikari pose. Ryoko is visible for a split second in the middle, but almost immediately teleports away._

MIYU: Reverse transit operation successful. Subject now found at point of arrival, Wind City, coordinates 105.35 and 799.34. Nanomachine feedback signal within norm.

NAOMI: Excellent. Everything is proceeding according to the plan.

MAYO: But Naomi, you never even _told_ us the plan! Besides the "let's all sing the song of peace" one. What's the real plan?

NAOMI: I can only say that it's big. Grandiose. And it's so going to be foiled at the last minite.

MAYO: Why don't you tell it now, Ms. Shady Dealer?

NAOMI: Because I can't until the others learn the details independently! Mwahahaha! That's how omniscient councils of vagueness work.

MIYU: Alert. Danger of continuity wreck. Conflicting object approaching. Estimated point of collision is 24 August 2007, at sunrise.

_Everyone freezes in horror. Naomi drops the Gendo glasses that she was about to put on._

NAOMI: Identify the colliding object.

MIYU: Identified as animation, type OVA, name _Mai-Otome Zwei 4_.

NAOMI: Not that! _(grabs her head in panic) _Miyu, red alert! Mayo, teleport Ryoko back! Shion, do a complete scan of the video and identify conflicting elements.

MIYU: With all due respect, Miss, I can handle this assignment more effectively than any human.

NAOMI: Shut up, stupid machine, or I'll order you remelted into janitor's buckets!

MIYU: Initiate playback at 1500x speed. _(zak!) _Analysis complete. Continuity conflicts... _(pause) _found.

NAOMI: Screw it! Where's Ryoko? _(Ryoko appears back where she disappeared from) _Excellent. We'll watch it all together just to humiliate Miyu and her inability to think creatively.

_30 minutes later._

_Somewhere inside Searrs HQ, all five are sitting on a couch in front of a giant TV screen. The final scene of Zwei 4, with Ribbon-chan in front of Garderobe, plays, and the screen turns black._

NAOMI: Your observations, please.

RYOKO: Fumi is huge!

NAOMI: Yes, and she's fighting my descendant Arika for no reason.

SHION: Right, we incorrectly assumed Fumi to be human-sized.

MAYO: Maybe a freak lab accident? Say, Vice-President Fumi wanders here, spills chemicals on herself and grows to enormous size? I can see it happening.

MIYU: The shadow entity is not Fumi Himeno. It is a planetary annihilation weapon known as Yuna.

NAOMI: Why would Searrs create such a monstro— wait, I agree, we'll commission it, whatever it takes. Next observation?

SHION: Different Emerald GEM. Differently named and different element.

NAOMI: I'll let Sylvia take care of this.

MAYO: Why can't there be two Emerald GEMs, anyway?

NAOMI: The audience would be confused. It's like how no two of us share the same first name, it's a matter of convention.

RYOKO: The Neptune Emerald was hidden in a book!

NAOMI: Three hundred years have passed, okay? It might as well have been, by someone we don't know. Any more inconsistencies?

MAYO: Kagutsuchi...

NAOMI: Not really a contradiction.

MAYO: But _kitten_! And how did he get the sword back? Last I heard, it disappeared with the HiME Star.

NAOMI: Hmm... We rebuilt the HiME Star, maybe the sword reappeared too? But the kitty... Bad kitty! Damn, Sunrise, this is getting silly to a dangerous extent, we may just pretend that it never happened...

RYOKO: Please, don't.

SHION: Yuna as Mashiro?

NAOMI: Just a shape. It has nothing to do with Kazahana, if that's what you're implying. She's deader than dead. What's next?

_Silence._

NAOMI: Well, if there's nothing else, I'm proud to announce that we got off easily.

MIYU: One moment, Miss. You have not reached the end of the video yet; it continues beyond the black screen at which you stopped.

NAOMI: I have a bad feeling about this.

_Miyu presses a button on the remote control. Playback resumes._

RYOKO: All right. A prequel, apparently.

MAYO and SHION _(in unison): _What the?!

NAOMI: You?! Both of you?

MIYU: That is correct. Mayo and Shion are both appearing in _Mai-Otome 0_.

NAOMI: No! This is not true! This is impossible!

RYOKO: Not for Sunrise, it seems...

NAOMI: But... but they're characters from _Destiny_! I thought recruiting them for Searrs with different surnames would be the safest bet for those wanting original flavor! And now they're going to appear 300 years from now, with _still_ different surnames... How does _that_ make sense?

MAYO: "According to the plan", uh-huh?

NAOMI: Y-yes-d-definitely! I — I'll totally think of something.

SHION: We have a precedent. I mean, Fumi... She's back from _Mai-HiME_. And the other duplicates that don't live in our era.

NAOMI: You think I'm stupid? I had an explanation for _that_! It was one of the major plot points! And now...

_Silence._

NAOMI: Ah, screw it. I'll think of something. You two have only existed once in this universe, right, Mayo, Shion? _Destiny_ is an alternate universe. It never happened here. So... if those other characters lived twice, maybe so can you...

_Silence._

_More silence._

_Even more silence._

NAOMI: Yes... I smell a resolution here. By the way. What was the fan reaction to that... thing? If we want high ratings, we should follow Sunrise's suit.

MIYU: According to data I have collected from the Internet, most viewers have found the story of _Zwei_ ridiculous and making no sense...

NAOMI: Good, good...

MIYU: However, they have commented that they are watching the series mostly for the fanservice, and have expressed disappointment after the realization that Shizuru and Natsuki are not appearing in the prequel. To quote one of them: "It seems that the chance of any ShizNat in this is slim."

NAOMI: ShizNat, hmph?

_Silence._

NAOMI: Well, if that's what it takes... Mayo! Shion! Undress! Mayo, imagine you're Shizuru. Shion, you'll fulfill the role of Natsuki. You two even have their respective GEMs, after all. Hug! Caress each other! Kiss! No, not like that! Kiss passionately, like you're lovers! I know you're not, just do it!

RYOKO: How disgusting.

MIYU: May I temporarily shut down all my receptors, Miss?

NAOMI: Certainly, Miyu. Well... you two, stop smooching there, back to work. And I swear, as long as I'm alive, _nobody_ in this story will ever enjoy romance again.

RYOKO: But shipping is the entire _point_ of fanfiction! Without it, we have no chance of —

_Naomi stands up._

NAOMI: I will not allow my plans to be ruined by gratuitous relationships tackled on for the sake of it. And nobody, not even Sunrise, will change that. Oh, fanboys, do I have a surprise for you in my next one...

RYOKO: That sounds... very Hideaki Anno, I'd say.

NAOMI: _(hastily)_ No, no... nothing of that sort. It's not like we're going to destroy the world to piss off the fans... _(mumbles something unintelligible to herself)_ As for you all, leave me alone. Ah, and send Ryoko back home.

_The others stand up and leave; the door behind them closes. Naomi remains alone in the room, changing poses for a while and constantly touching her head._

NAOMI: Anno... Quite an interesting observation. Maybe he was right, after all, and humans _are_ indeed an evolutionary dead end.

_She stands up again._

NAOMI: Damn... these are exactly the kinds of thoughts I promised myself to never have. To ever question my own belief in humanity like that...

_Naomi comes to a nearby window. It is dawn outside; the sun is rising from the horizon on the left, but the moon and the blue Administar are still visible in the sky on the right._

NAOMI: The HiME Star, whose deus ex machina powers Sunrise once exploited... Please, erase the memories of this little chat, from me and from the others... Just once, just this once I call to your powers, for the sake of the approaching day that you've been rebuilt for...

* * *

_And again, if you started reading from the bottom, it never really happened.  
To be continued with the real chapter 3..._


	4. Chapter 3: The Searrs Code, Ryoko ¾

**Chapter 3 (of 4)  
THE SEARRS CODE / RYOKO ¾**

Lazily and reluctantly, Naomi removed a futuristic-looking helmet from her head. She looked somewhat like one would expect a drug user to, being in a state of weird satisfaction — except retaining all the sanity and awareness that one would not, after all, expect a drug user to have.

She reached for a marker stored under her desk, cleaned its surface with a duster and started writing incomprehensible gibberish looking like a bizarre, nonsensical mesh of English and Japanese. She wrote the words, erased them, and then wrote other words, all the while holding her head with her other hand, as if she was afraid it would spontaneously explode.

As Mayo and Shion gazed at her from below, demonstrating complete incomprehension, Naomi blinked rapidly, erasing the previously written words. Finally, she tightened her grip of the marker and semi-consciously, with her eyes half-closed, wrote on the desk:

ラグナ・了子_  
Pure White Diamond  
civilian GEM  
_これは私達のチャンスです。。。。

"Uhm..." Shion adjusted her glasses and coughed. "Naomi, with all due respect, may I recommend — "

"Splash a bucketful of cold water on her!" exclaimed Mayo, grinning. "This will surely bring her back to her senses!"

"This isn't necessary," rebutted Naomi. "It's just not easy to express yourself when you're thinking in two languages at once. I know, they warned about this side effect — it seems to be wearing off."

"Then Mikoto... I mean, the Prototype felt the same when we taught her Netian? Poor girl!" said Mayo.

Naomi snorted. "The side effects are irrelevant, as long as we aren't going to release it to the public — and we are not going to until we move to the final plan. And for that, we need to flesh out the HiME gadgetry first. Speaking of which, how fares the Pure White Diamond?"

"The GEM signal is stable," reported Shion, "and she has not yet departed far from the origin point."

"This means she's most likely still home," explained Mayo. "Actually..." she stared at the monitor, "actually... we seem to have... a huge problem!"

"Oh, really?" Naomi inquired casually. "What kind of problem?"

"Her nanomachines are gone!" shouted Mayo, grabbing her head.

"Teleport her back here!" ordered Naomi.

"We can't!"

* * *

_I know there's something in the wake of your smile.  
I get a notion from the look in your eyes.  
You've built a love but that love falls apart.  
Your little piece of heaven turns too dark._

_Listen to your heart  
when he's calling for you.  
Listen to your heart —  
there's nothing else you can do.  
I don't know where you're going  
and I don't know why,  
but listen to your heart  
before you tell him goodbye._

— Lyrics by Per Gessle and Mats M.P. Persson; performed by Roxette

* * *

"Ryoko Ragna, you are under arrest. You do not have to say anything. But anything you do say may be noted in evidence."

Ryoko made a step back, asked Fenton with a gesture to stay where he was, and then, slowly and calmly, spoke a single word.

"Materialise."

Her GEM flashed briefly, and an ethereal, translucent outline of a Robe appeared on her for a few seconds before dying out in static-like flicker. Ryoko looked at her hands, then down, remaining almost naked... then cried again desperately, several times:

"Materialise! Materialise!! Please, not now... I beg you... MATERIALISE!!!"

_R.R DISCONNECTED A.S  
LOST CARRIER SIGNAL — ROBE OUT_

"Oh, _now_ I'm definitely screwed..." she whispered, looking at the not-exactly-friendly police officers right in front of her. "How did I deserve this? NAOMI!!" she shouted out loud. "Do you hear me?!"

"Naomi...?" repeated Fenton, still hiding behind the desk. "Who's she talking to?"

Suddenly, Ryoko heard Naomi's voice coming from the GEM. "Listen carefully," began the head of Searrs, speaking from the headquarters through a microphone-like device, "don't mention me or the Foundation or anything else you heard about back here. Follow their orders and try not to attract attention. Otherwise, you'll doom us all, and your own city especially."

Ryoko nodded and raised her arms. "I surrender. Now, leave my husband alone. Whatever you seek me for, he has nothing to do with it."

* * *

A limousine stopped at the entrance to the Aries government residence, a hexagonal building on an artificial island — apparently a blind, menial copy of the Pentagon back the former U. S. of A., having added another corner just to further drive the point home. Fumi got out of the car, holding a briefcase and still wearing her maid uniform, now accompanied by four bodyguards in black. The guards in front of the entrance saluted to her as she went past them. 

"Fumi Himeno, vice-president," she introduced herself, showing her badge to the receptionist.

"Yes, we know who you are," he affirmed, slightly disoriented.

She made a sign to the bodyguards to leave her and walked upstairs. On the second floor, a secretary ran into Fumi and gave her an awkward hug, making her raise an eyebrow.

"Vice-president!" exclaimed the secretary with relief. "Finally, someone in charge! The president left about an hour ago, and to make things worse — "

"Just as I thought." Fumi sighed. "Let me guess, an unexpected counterattack?"

"Exactly, from — "

"Did the president say where he departed?"

"Kunigi Island," said the secretary.

"That can be shortened to one word: vacation. To put it simply," Fumi continued irritatedly, talking to herself now as she walked towards her new office, "I'm just another disposable VP for him, like others before me. My entire purpose is to be blamed. Of course, that may well backfire against him..."

As she entered the office, which (of course) featured a huge window providing a view of the outside, she immediately turned on the computer and typed a few words with the keyboard. A black box appeared on the monitor, obscuring nearly the entire screen area — completely featureless, except for some text in red letters in the middle:

_W. STEINGOTT  
PERSONAL ADVISOR  
VOICE ONLY_

"I'm finally in the Hexagon, Wataru," she reported without a tiny bit of enthusiasm.

"I figured," said Wataru's dry voice. "The president himself insisted on your appointment and fiercely defended it in the Congress. This must mean something, and I doubt it means something good for us."

"If we could impeach him..."

"And then what? Given the current state of the war effort, it can make the situation even worse if both he _and_ you fly out of the window. Besides, the Wheel has begun to take action, and they've had their eye on Aries presidency for a long time."

"The Wheel? Tell me about it," said Fumi, taking a thermos out of her briefcase and pouring tea from it in a cup.

"They've recruited a HiME — I don't know the exact circumstances, but they met in one of the seaside hotels, and she agreed to lead them to Windbloom."

"Windbloom?" Fumi's voice grew concerned. "What could possibly interest the Wheel in Windbloom?"

"What? I don't know, really. I'll continue to monitor them — they shouldn't be much of a nuisance, provided we do get our own HiME. The Artai threat, on the other hand, can prove a bit more difficult to handle..."

"What Artai threat?"

"Didn't you get the report from the minister of defense? I thought it would be the very first thing they would enlightened you on once you got here."

"I don't know," admitted Fumi. "I was in such a hurry to get in contact with you that I haven't had time to look through any reports. Can you describe the situation in a nutshell?"

"In a nutshell..." repeated Wataru wearily. "In a nutshell, Artai is aiming for a surprise attack. Well, hardly a surprise attack now that we've discovered it. According to our sources in Artai, they're consolidating troops from everywhere, up to and including the Far North, and the vanguard of Ching Army has been spotted to the northeast of Wind City."

As Fumi heard these words, she involuntarily dropped the cup of tea she's been holding. "So, they're going to attack Windbloom?!"

"Precisely," confirmed Wataru.

"I'm going there. Right now."

"Fumi, you can't — "

"With all respect, Wataru, it's my home city," said Fumi sternly. "I promised to fight for its independence — and for what I know, the city is almost completely undefended. If I let it spiral out of control while our forces are stretched thin for the pointless Cardair-Annam campaign, there may soon be nothing left of Windbloom to liberate."

"Fumi, you're needed on your duty!" exclaimed Wataru. "The state affairs cannot wait. You can't leave just because your home city is in danger — I'm more than confident that I can handle the defense of Windbloom alone."

"You know it's pointless to argue. So just don't. Please."

"Fair enough," replied Wataru, somewhat frustrated.

_W. STEINGOTT  
OFFLINE  
CONNECTION CLOSED BY REMOTE HOST_

* * *

Naomi returned to her small office, carrying a device resembling a walkie-talkie, and quietly shut and locked the door behind herself. Munya the cat was peacefully sleeping in a corner, although its appearance has changed since its was last seen: its left ear was now pierced by a golden ring. 

"Told you it would be painless," Naomi whispered.

She took a dry-erase board from a shelf, put it on her desk and sat down. She then proceeded to draw random scribbles on the board and erase them — first with a great deal of frustration, making the lines straight and edgy, but after taking a deep breath a few times, she eventually relaxed and started drawing more circular shapes.

The radio device disrupted the idyllic silence, to Naomi's initial disorientation. "Anyone there? Naomi?" it said in Ryoko's voice.

"What did I _say_ about not speaking through the GEM?!" exploded Naomi.

"Nobody's listening," said Ryoko. "We stopped by a restroom. They're outside and I think they'll respect my privacy for a few minutes — I'm speaking as quietly as I can."

"What do you want, _watashi no HiME_?" asked Naomi in an unwelcoming tone.

"Can you teleport me back?"

"If we could, we would have already done that. But your nanomachines were somehow destroyed, rendering you unable to activate your Robe as a side effect — we never thought it was possible, so we don't know how it happened."

"I thought... maybe you had some ideas..." murmured Ryoko.

"To have ideas, I need to know the exact circumstances. What happened to you after you left the headquarters?"

"I..." Ryoko stuttered. "Well, I appeared back home, washed, and spent some time watching TV until my husband returned from work. He seemed very pleased to see me again, and..."

"And then what happened?" asked Naomi impatiently.

"And then... we, er, did what lovers tend to do, if you get me. And immediately after that, the police burst in, and I... failed to protect myself."

"That!" Naomi exclaimed. "Now it makes sense. None of us ever had that luxury, so it's understandable that a simple vulnerability like that could get overlooked. And it may be related... when we tested the nanomachines on criminals before, they only worked with females, and just dissolved in males — or in transgenders, in either direction. We used to assume it was the natural way — the original HiME were all female as well, but now it seems the reason is different... For a record, did you use a condom?"

"Errrr..." For a moment, that question rendered Ryoko speechless. "Well, if it helps, we never do — I take pills instead."

"Damn, so many factors! Listen, Ryoko, get out of wherever you are as fast as you can. At the very least, you'll need to get to our Fuka Zwei facility — it's in Windbloom, so you won't have to leave the city. Go to Memorial Plaza Complex, building 2, drive 3. The challenge is 'tangerine oppression', the countersign is 'sideways spa'. I'm sorry, but that's all I can say."

"All right, I'll try to remember that," affirmed Ryoko. "I'm out, back to my captors."

The last sound Naomi heard through the speaker was the sound of a flushing toilet.

"Virginity powers, eh?" she said quietly, writing on the whiteboard. "This explains a lot. And it's a problem to be solved once we get hold of the data."

Naomi removed her hands from the desk and looked at what she had just written. The text on the board consisted of two kanji:

処女

She gave the writing a thoughtful, prolonged look for a moment, then took a piece of cloth, erased the first kanji and replaced it with another one:

乙女

"Well, if it _just happens_ to resemble a Latin letter, perhaps we could use that..."

A few minutes later, Naomi returned to the control room.

"Oh, it's the boss! What's the news?" greeted her Mayo.

Naomi silently sat down, put her elbows on the desk and brought her fingertips together in front of her mouth. "The Pure White Diamond contacted me," she said. "For now, in the absence of details, I conjecture that the nanomachine malfunction was the result of a sexual contact with a male. The current model of nanomachines shall be from now on considered a failure, and the existing Type 2 HiME shall be designated Z-type, or Otome-type HiME, to distinguish them from the corrected future version."

Mayo and Shion nodded.

"Effective immediately," added Naomi. "Notify the Windbloom and Artai subdivisions as well. It also goes without saying, but... they should refrain from intercourse with the opposite sex until the problem is dealt with."

"Chairman," reported Shion, looking at the monitor, "A target has appeared on our radars."

"The battlefield is full of these targets."

"According to the transponder signal, it's not a military target. It's a civil aircraft from Aries Republic."

"That changes matters," said Naomi.

"And apparently, it's preparing to land on the plateau," continued Shion.

"Then I'll come to the surface and deal with it," decided Naomi. "You two know your assignment. Broadcast the new nanomachine regulations."

* * *

The policemen dragged Ryoko along a row of detainment cells, all of which seemed even more inhospitable than the Searrs storage rooms. She was expecting herself to be thrown into one of them and forgotten; however, it did not happen. Instead, the captain dismissed the rest of the squad and went, pushing the captive ahead of herself, upstairs, then through a narrow and half-lit corridor, then downstairs. 

Finally, they stopped in a dead end, where a man in a trenchcoat and fedora was sitting with a laptop on his knees. He raised his head and gave both women an insightful, studying look.

"Thank you, Misato," he said. "You're as operative as ever, I see."

The captain saluted, turned round the corner and walked out of sight.

"As for you, my HiME..." he began. "My HiME... What a cheesy form of address. By the way, sit down — you aren't going to stand there until Judgment Day, are you?" he smiled.

Ryoko smiled back. "Do you believe in Judgment Day?"

"No. But you may, and... well, it's just an expression."

"Religious nonsense." Ryoko made a wry face. "And please don't address me 'my HiME'. I'm not yours, and I'm not a HiME either."

"Not a HiME? How did it happen, miss... Ah, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Wataru. Wataru Steingott. And you?"

"Ryoko Ragna, and don't even dream to seduce me."

"Oh... So straight to the point," smiled Wataru. "Just like her. But don't worry, I'm not going to compromise your fidelity. I know you're married."

"How?" Ryoko snorted.

"Long story short, it's my job to watch over Searrs, or, more precisely, their public actions. Captain Pfeilwurzburg told me about your husband Fenton..." (Ryoko flinched) "...and his announcement, and I suspected that your disappearance may have had something to do with Searrs."

"Why?"

Wataru wavered. "I had... reasons. But now, it's pointless to deny that you have a connection to the Foundation. The GEM on your ear speaks for itself. And yet you're saying you aren't a HiME?"

"My nanomachines were broken... in an... accident," stated Ryoko, blushing. "So I'm no longer able to use the GEM's power. Oh, seriously... I mention nanomachines and HiME like something casual from my everyday life."

"Then..." Wataru's voice faltered, but he still struggled to retain a certain amount of self-confidence. "Then you're useless to me. Give me the GEM and go back home."

"What? Give... you?" Ryoko asked in surprise. "What if I say 'no way, I'll keep it as a gift from Searrs'?"

"You've just said enough to at least detain you for a week," Wataru responded with an innocent face. "And then, we'll see. Maybe up to, say, ten years, for treason..."

"It's nonsense!" declared Ryoko resolutely. "Justice is on my side."

"Justice? In Windbloom?" Wataru smirked. "Believe me, if not for _my_ team, you would probably be in a torture room now. They don't officially call them tortures, but it's the same." He paused. "And with your GEM, I might at least hope to trace Searrs to their," he declaimed the following with pathos, "Top Secret Remote Mountain Location."

"Is it that necessary?" asked Ryoko. "If we can enter one facility, we can probably find another one — and I've been given the address and passphrase to their Windbloom base."

"Searrs have a base in Windbloom? And you know how to get there?" Wataru's eyes lit with ill-suppressed delight. "Why didn't you just say so before?"

Ryoko stumbled. "Well... I didn't think it was relevant..."

* * *

It was sunset time. A middle-aged man in a grey suit was standing at the edge of a cliff, looking at the horizon, his hair blowing in the wind in such a fashion that you could almost think nature itself arranged for that wind just to add an extra touch to the scenery. Behind him, a helicopter was hovering in the air just above the ground. 

Naomi walked towards him and stopped about ten steps away. "Adam?"

"There is only one voice in the world that could address me like this." The man turned around. "And I remember it all too well."

"So, Adam, do you have to say something in your defense?"

"Naomi, seriously... I didn't even expect to find you here, and you could, at once, address me as 'President'."

"Only if you start addressing me as 'Chairman'," countered Naomi. "And you're not _my_ president. You're just someone I happened to know since school, and I'm not an Aries citizen either."

"You are, from the legal point of view," argued the president. "But of course, an organization that places itself above the law will object."

"Adam, with all seriousness, please stop the war. You have the power."

"Do I?" Adam shrugged. "I was under the impression that I was a prisoner in the Hexagon, just a rubber stamp of Congress. If anyone's to blame for this war, it's the people — they genuinely wanted it."

"They never did," refuted Naomi dryly. "It was merely an impression created for you. Of course, how could you ever hear about anti-war protests if they were quelled, and everywhere you went, you met cheerful crowds welcoming you with flowers? It's easy to lose touch with reality when you've climbed so high, with so many layers separating you from them..."

She paused.

"I don't know," continued Naomi, while Adam made some gestures in the direction of the helicopter. "_I_ probably would, if I was a head of state. I don't blame you. Perhaps the Foundation is wrong to place it above the law, as you noted, but I can only speak for myself — and being Naomi Searrs, the heir to an ancient conspiracy, is something I'm stuck with. I may not even want it, but I can't cease to be myself. You, on the other hand, were elected by your people to represent their interests — your presidency was a status you actively pursued, not born with — and it must have involved extensive research of past historical leaders, to avoid repeating their mistakes."

"It's too late," said Adam. "You should know it — after all these years, the Aries economy is now heavily dependent on the continuing war. If there had been no threat, we would have had to invent one."

"It's good to hear that you admit it so freely. I know that one of your predecessors would invent outrageous excuses... But it's always about Aries. What about the rest of the world?"

"Rest of the world?" repeated Adam.

"Point. And even in Aries, the war is really only beneficial for the south, while border region are in permanent danger. Like, say... Windbloom?"

"I know about Windbloom's desire for independence. But what will they be without our protection?"

Naomi smiled. "They may well be able to protect themselves — you never know..."

"Windlib is still active," reminded the president. "If I allow Windbloom to leave the Federation, the public will say that the government gave it away to terrorists. Which means an instant ratings drop. I can't allow myself such bold moves just before the election."

"Terrorists? Three hundred years, and it still comes down to painting rebels as terrorists!"

"But these people really _are_ terrorists," insisted Adam. "They capture schools and take children hostage, and they're not as much interested in Windbloom's independence as using it as a personal staging ground. It's really Cardair press portraying them as Robin Hoods because they desire turmoil in that region."

"I'm just kidding," grinned Naomi. "Of course, I do accept Windlib terrorists for what they are. But if only they were a singular case, rather than a symptom of a larger problem with the society..."

"Chairman... Naomi, don't you see? Searrs has advanced technology — if we could use it against such threats to our stability..."

"Adam, don't deceive yourself. Even should we give away our technology, you won't use it against 'threats to stability' — even if _you_ want to, others won't allow you to. It will first and foremost be used against other nations, until the world is united against its will, with Aries as the self-appointed guardian of world order."

"It it bad?" asked Adam completely sincerely.

"Uhm... Let me put it this way: nobody gave your particular nation the right to intervene."

"And who exactly gave _you_, Searrs, the right to decide who benefits from your research?" attacked Adam.

"Nobody, aside from the fact that we fought for the freedom of all of humanity from the influence of the Precursors, since the dawn of civilization. In its due time, our technology will be made open to everyone, not just specific nations to the exclusion of others."

"You were right, Naomi," admitted Adam, "in noting that I'm supposed to represent the interests of the people who elected me. Which means the people of Aries. As for the rest of the world — I'm sorry, but I wasn't elected to care for _them_."

"Which means?.."

"Which means we'll take over Searrs and their research by force, if it's necessary."

"The United Nations already attempted it once, back on Earth," replied Naomi. "As a result, I lost my father — but there was another, much worse consequence, in that this world's link to Earth was severed. And I won't tolerate it if someone attempts it again, because the consequences may be even more drastic."

She stepped forward, walking dangerously close to President Summers.

"And unlike last time, now we have the means to prevent it from happening. Materialise!"

_N.S CONNECTED A.S  
ROBE.BLUE SKY SAPPHIRE MATERIALISE STANDING BY_

Immediately after Naomi's Robe appeared and she grabbed Adam's upper arm, seven armed soldiers jumped out of the helicopter and pointed their rifles at her.

Naomi just smirked, took off flew over the edge, holding the president. "One shot, and he falls to his death — and a certain subordinate of his receives a Klingon promotion. I mean it."

* * *

"Welcome to the Fuka Zwei Facility," announced a synthetic background voice. "Sylvia Permando, please proceed to room 303 per the request of team coordinator Mwende Roshwald." 

"Yes, yes, I know," said Sylvia with an annoyed voice, speaking to nobody in particular. "Mwende, what's the reason? Why taking off the GEM?"

"Yours has been selected as the next to be upgraded, as part of the Materialise Zwei project," explained Mwende, a black woman with chest-long curly hair. "It will also be renamed 'Neptune Emerald', as you wanted, although I personally have no problems with the current eco-friendly name."

"I'm in no position to argue, but please, do it fast." Sylvia unfastened her green GEM and handed it to Mwende, who put it in an envelope.

After exiting room 303, Sylvia took several turns until reaching a completely dark, almost pitch-black room. "We should move quickly."

"I submitted your blood sample to a courier, it should reach the command chain soon," said Girasu's voice.

"Excellent. Did your courier say anything about the Wheel's take on the Artai threat?"

"They'll deal with it soon."

"Hope so," said Sylvia indifferently. "Now, as promised, I'll guide you to the Orphans — if the Wheel could do something about _them_, it would be a double triumph..."

She turned on a flashlight and lit a button on the wall, which she then pressed. An absurdly massive door, about fifty centimeters thick, closed behind them with almost no noise, despite its weight.

"We don't have much time," said Sylvia. "Let's go. You too, Lenro."

* * *

Directly above them, on the surface above the Searrs underground base, Wataru and Ryoko stood in the middle of a large plaza with five columns at one side and a shopping complex at the opposite side. It was early evening, and the sky was partly cloudy, giving the two an unpleasant feeling of hostility and inhospitality on nature's part. 

"The attack has begun," said Wataru, as Ryoko was looking around, indicating her unfamiliarity with this area. Above them, jet fighters crossed the sky, all bearing the same emblem: a silver sword piercing, top-to-bottom, a black diamond-shape.

"It's Artai," stated Wataru. "It's their emblem. And it's bad news for us... With them dominating the sky, our special acquaintance will have a lot of trouble getting here."

"Special acquaintance?" asked Ryoko.

"Vice-President Himeno."

"Fumi?!" exclaimed Ryoko.

"Yes, Fumi Himeno. I told you to wait for us here, but..."

"You're giving me creeps," said Ryoko, stepping away from Wataru. "What do _you_ have to do with her? Are you using her just like you're using me?"

"Really, you provincials are so paranoid..."

Suddenly, they heard the sound of an explosion behind them. Wataru and Ryoko turned around to see a fighter with the Aries insignia — a white, with a red border, leaf. It was damaged, and its left engine was smoking, but it nevertheless managed to land in one piece on the plaza, although it looked like a bit rough landing.

Fumi and a male pilot in a helmet jumped out. "Ah, it's good to see you are already here, Wataru... But who's that with you?"

"Don't you recognize me, Fumi?" smiled Ryoko.

"Ryoko?!" Fumi covered her mouth in astonishment.

"I... take it you two know each other?" inquired Wataru, confused and feeling somewhat redundant.

_To be concluded_


	5. Chapter 4: Crystal Energy, Part 1 of 2

_**Chapter 4 (of 4)  
CRYSTAL ENERGY / SHATTERED DELUSIONS**_

"Here we are, Wind City!" exclaimed Fumi, looking down at the landscape from her airplane seat. "We're over Fort Garderobe."

"Where's the plaza?" asked the pilot.

"At the other side of the city. But we'll make it, won't we?" asked Fumi with some degree of desperation.

"We should, vice-president — unless Artai strikes right now."

"There they are!" said Fumi as the plane started descending, pointing at the rapidly approaching fighters with Artai markings, straight to the left.

The plane shook.

"What?!" uttered Fumi.

"Lost an engine, but we should still make it _aargh! _No, you don't! This may be a hard landing..."

As the plain descended further, Fumi could now see two silhouettes standing on the plaza. The ground was rapidly approaching; they managed to land safely, even though Fumi felt like the seat belt was about to rip and send her flying through the windshield.

She opened the door at her side and jumped out of the plane. The plaza was, understandably, deserted — except for Wataru and Ryoko, now joined by Fumi and the pilot.

"Ah, it's good to see you are already here, Wataru... But who's that with you?"

"Don't you recognize me, Fumi?" smiled Ryoko.

"Ryoko?!" Fumi covered her mouth in astonishment.

"I... take it you two know each other?" inquired Wataru, confused and feeling somewhat redundant.

* * *

"Not so fast, Naomi," exclaimed Adam Summers, not even trying to free himself from the Otome's grip. "Let's not do anything we'll regret!"

Naomi just shrugged, summoned a lance, and fired from it at the helicopter, which fell onto the landing area at the top of the mesa, right next to the guards — who tried to fire at her after she deliberately turned her back to them. Fruitlessly. The bullets just vaporized in the air, not leaving even a scratch on the Robe.

A hatch opened in the ground (well, ground from the guards' perspective), and two more Otome in identical white Robes flew out of it. One of them threw down a gas grenade, and when the guards collapsed, the Otome tied them up with energy ropes summoned on the fly.

"You should understand, president," said Naomi, taking Adam through the newly-opened hatch, "while the entire Aries military can do exactly zip against Searrs, we can't risk our secrecy just because you need Otome as target practices. I'll try to make your stay in the facility comfortable, though."

"Stay? I've been kidnapped!" protested Adam.

"Yes, you have, because we need you to stop causing trouble. If that offends you, you should have refrained from coming here in the first place." Naomi smiled innocently. "The only reason I'm sparing your life is because you've aided Searrs, unknowingly, by appointing Himeno. You have no idea..."

* * *

"All right, Captain," Fumi turned to the pilot, "Mr. Steingott you're already familiar with. "And this is Ryoko Ragna, my childhood friend. We parted ways — six years ago, was it? When she said she wasn't into politics."

"I'm _still_ not into politics," grinned Ryoko. "But really, look at yourself — from maid to vice-president, and running for election! I'm glad for you, but it's just not mine."

"Wataru, Ryoko, this is Captain Russell Whedon of the Aries Air Forces," introduced Fumi. "Now, Wataru, why here? It doesn't look like a welcoming place."

"This woman had contact with Searrs. If she's correct, the Foundation has a research facility in Windbloom, and it's right below us."

"Searrs?" Fumi put on a stern expression. "They don't make alliances, and they don't share. You know this. What kind of game are you going to play _now_?"

"Shhh!" whispered Ryoko. "They can hear us through my GEM. If I were you, I'd stop discussing them until we got there."

"Good point," approved Wataru. "Now that we're here, did they mention how to get in?"

"Naomi said building 2, drive 3. The challenge is 'tangerine oppression', the countersign is 'sideways spa'. I have no idea what this means, though..." Ryoko shrugged, "and who we're supposed to talk to..."

* * *

"What's that? A message from the center?" inquired Sylvia, as Girasu pressed a button on his beeping PDA-like device.

"There's no center. The Wheel is highly decentralized — nobody is allowed to know more than three other members. It's one of my informants in the Hexagon; he says that President Summers has been captured by Searrs."

"Where, here?" asked Sylvia.

"No, Black Valley. Naomi herself has him."

"How did your people allow that?"

"It was a surprise move. The 'Kunigi Island' announcement got everyone fooled, even the Wheel, until he apparently changed destination in mid-flight."

"So, what will happen now?"

"If I was Summers, I would hope afterlife exists," inserted Lenro, who has been typing on his own PDA during this short conversation.

"But... doesn't it mean Himeno will..." Sylvia said in an unsure voice. "Naomi has plans for her. I don't know what kind of plans, but she does. If the Wheel helps her with promotion, it may turn out to be something Searrs wanted all along."

"Himeno is irrelevant to the big picture," dismissed Girasu. "Summers was at least experienced, and she's clueless — she'll probably be removed even _before _Summers buys the farm..."

* * *

Wataru, noticing a beep, reached into an inner pocket of his coat and revealed a PDA, suddenly beginning to ignore the rest of the group's presence.

"Don't tell me..." exclaimed Fumi, as Ryoko and Captain Hakase just looked at him with curiosity. With one move, Fumi grabbed a knife from Russell's utility belt and cut Wataru's right sleeve, revealing a mark on his arm in the form of a stylized steering wheel.

"_Yes,_" confirmed Wataru.

Fumi wavered. "You... Wheel..."

"I'm just pursuing my own interests. I have no interest in whatever utopian plans they have, same for Searrs. What matters is the fact tht Summers will soon be dead, which makes you the president, Fumi Himeno."

He made a decisive step towards her.

"And I don't want you to interfere right now."

Wataru took out a syringe with a milky-white liquid and, before Ryoko and Dare managed to react, stuck it into Fumi's upper arm and pushed the piston.

Fumi fell on her knees, and, staggering, was about to fall face-down, prompting Ryoko to kneel and hold her shoulders. Russell, meanwhile, reached Wataru from behind and grabbed his arms.

"What have you done to her?" asked Ryoko angrily, not looking back at Wataru and instead staring into Fumi's blank, motionless eyes.

"You should know from personal experience. Three days."

* * *

"Incoming traveler!" announced Shion back in the Searrs control room.

"Wow, that was quick!" admitted Mayo. "Who would have thought that the alert system would come so handy after that last accident, eh, Shion?"

"If I were you, I would wonder how it's possible, given that Aries has no executions planned for today."

"Same as Ryoko, eh?" theorized Mayo. "Someone must have got hold of the nanomachines. I hope they don't go and inject every woman on the way, that would just be annoying for us, wouldn't it?"

"Subject has materialized in the experiments room," continued Shion. "Enabling video feed."

The large screen on the wall opposite to Naomi's command deck turned on, showing the room Mikoto was unfrozen in. Fumi, who was lying on her back in the middle of the room, suddenly got up and started running from one closed door to another, knocking and shouting something unintelligible.

"Pretty energetic for an fresh Otome, isn't she?" observed Mayo.

"It makes sense," said Naomi, entering and assuming her usual position behind her desk. "It should not be surprising that a SELF-image isn't experiencing the adaptation period. She should be _almost _perfectly suited to being a HiME, after all."

Naomi pressed a button on her desk. "Fumi!"

The "subject", as Shion designated her, stopped running and turned towards the camera.

"Yes, you, Fumi Himeno. First, as the Chairman of Searrs Foundation, I'd like to apologize for bringing about the existence of Wataru Steingott. He was an unintended side-effect of our experiment in recreating _you_."

"What are you talking about?" asked Fumi.

"Oh, come on. 'Why do I look nothing like my parents?' We disrupted the natural SELF mechanism, so that you were born ahead of time, but it was always intended to be just you and not him. His life was an accident."

"I don't follow," complained Fumi.

"And like all creations of Searrs, you have a purpose," continued Naomi, unconcerned. "But that purpose has never been anything beyond observation. We wanted to see if the unusual circumstances of your birth would have any effect on your life... well, we've never expected you to go this far. And you're not supposed to be here. Sorry."

In Fumi's room, a robotic arm lowered a strange object from the ceiling. It was a round metal casing with a ring inside.

"Take it," ordered Naomi.

Fumi took the casing and started turning in in her hands.

Naomi pressed the same button on the desk again. "Return her."

* * *

"...But seriously, she couldn't have just vanished like that!" said Ryoko. "Did the same happen to me back then?"

Wataru, still held by Russell, nodded. "Most likely. I wasn't there, one of my agents was. But you shouldn't be any different, up to and including the three-day delay — "

He didn't have a chance to finish the sentence. Fumi reappeared out of thin air right in front of him and, having coped with momentary confusion, immediately slapped him.

"Or not," finished Wataru.

"But why? Why was it different for me and her?" asked Ryoko.

"Supposedly, I'm special..." said Fumi. "Supposedly, Searrs created me... just to stalk me throughout my entire life."

"This may have something to do with the other one," suggested Wataru.

"What other one?" asked Ryoko, confused.

Her GEM spoke again with Naomi's voice. "Miyu, please recite the list of the thirteen original HiME."

The voice speaking through the GEM changed to Miyu's monotonous and slightly artificial-feeling, yet deeply affectionate voice.

"Participants of the HiME Carnival of 2004-2005: Mikoto Minagi. Natsuki Kuga. Mai Tokiha. Akane Higurashi. Midori Sugiura. Nao Yuuki. Akira Okuzaki. Yukariko Sanada. Yukino Kikukawa. Alyssa Searrs," at this point, the voice trembled. "Shiho Munakata. Shizuru Fujino. Fumi Himeno."

"But this can't be true!" exclaimed Ryoko. "I knew her as a little girl — she was born here, like me, and grew up with me, not like the one you showed me before!"

"She's a clone," said Naomi. "The Administar replaced the DNA upon conception, with just enough HiME genes taken out to remove natural affinity — Hold on! Something's happening here. I'm out."

"She wasn't particularly helpful," pointed out Ryoko.

"You should be grateful she even bothered to tell you all that," said Wataru. "From what I heard, Searrs are rarely that talkative."

"As for you..." Fumi turned to him. "Captain, drag him away somewhere. We'll proceed without him."

"But how are we even supposed to get in?" asked Ryoko... and at the same moment, the floor shook under them and a giant hole appeared, out of which a mecha-like creature appeared, looked at the surroundings, and blasted off into the sky.

"What the...?!" exclaimed Ryoko.

"No time to wonder," cut short Fumi. "At least we can get in now. Move!"

_To be concluded_


	6. Chapter 4: Crystal Energy, Part 2 of 2

"What happened?" asked Naomi, putting her communication device away as the alarm went on.

"Dangerous foreign object detected in living room 7," reported Shion.

"It's Adam's room. Isolate! Immediately!" ordered Naomi.

"Isolating..." respondeed Shion, pressing several keys in rapid succession. "Blast fields engaged. The exterior is now protected."

"Good," commended Naomi. "Give me the video feed.

The screen turned on. Naomi saw the president, who had rolled up his right sleeve and was now looking at his upper arm, on which there was a steering wheel mark, like on Wataru's arm... except it was glowing.

"Adam!" shouted Naomi in sheer horror, having all of a sudden lost her calm and stone-faced look. What is this? Did the Wheel get to you too?!"

"The Wheel? No!" exclaimed Adam. "I have nothing to do with the Wheel, I assure you! And I have no idea what this mark means!"

"It's the mark of the Wheel," explained Naomi. "However, I have never seen them glow before. I don't think any of us have."

"Your orders, Chairman?" inquired Shion.

"First of all, no need to panic. We must act quickly, but losing self-control may prove — "

Adam's face turned pale, and he, coughing, collapsed to the floor.

" — detrimental?" continued Naomi. "Adam? Adam?! Get him to the medbay, now!" she yelled, grabbed the first thing she could reach — a can with some drink — and tossed it down in frustration, spilling the drink over the floor and Mayo and Shion's clothes.

Miyu looked at her and shook her head in disapproval.

* * *

"Hmm, this one made quite a mess," said Sylvia, as the mecha took her and the Wheel agents into the sky, away from Wind City — which was now under heavy aerial bombardment — and above the lush forest surrounding it.

"We only need one," replied Girasu. "If what you said about the Administar was true, we can have as many Slaves as needed."

"After refining the process, of course," added Lenro.

"And now, it's time for you guys to live to your part of the agreement."

"Oh, yes, you'll be introduced to the Wheel chain of command, as promised," assured Girasu. "But first, I'd like to remove the last of the ties binding you to Searrs."

"You mean..."

"Yes. Your nanomachines. Given that, thanks to you, we know now about that little vulnerability of the Z-type HiME. Or should I say Otome?" Girasu smiled. "Couldn't you, for once, decide on your ever-changing terminology?"

"You eavesdropped!" exclaimed Sylvia, horrified.

"Hardly surprising, isn't it?" Girasu took out a syringe, inserted it into his own arm first and filled it with his blood, then injected it into Sylvia's arm as she just stared blankly at him and made no attempt whatsoever to at least dodge him. "We know about the fourth Zwei GEM too, and I think you can get it for us when it's finished."

"No, I'm not," said Sylvia. "I'm not going to get involved with Searrs yet again — you'll have to find someone else."

"Your choice," shrugged Girasu.

* * *

Fumi and Ryoko jumped into the newly-formed hole in the asphalt floor and proceeded down a wide, slanted tunnel, which, judging by the state of the walls and floor, composed entirely of debris, was obviously dug by the mecha as it was finding its way out.

"You know, Fumi," said Ryoko, "maybe I should just go home. It's been too much for one day — politics, conspiracies, Searrs, the Wheel, the HiME... I mean, three days ago, I didn't know about any of this and had a happy little family life. Wasn't it what you wanted all along, Fumi?"

"I wanted a happy family life in a free and well-defended Windbloom," replied Fumi. "You can go home, fine, but don't be surprised when Artai turns your house into dust and doesn't even notice you exist."

"Free Windbloom..." repeated Ryoko. "That sounds like Windlib."

"Don't associate me with those... beasts!" exploded Fumi. "I don't want separation for separation's sake. I just see that Aries is doing nothing for us, they treat us as a burden. When I walked through the corridors of the Hexagon — "

"Really?!" asked Ryoko in amazement.

"Really. And everyone was whispering behind my back, 'This is the one from the Useless Lands.' Even if I become president, I can't just force everyone to start treating Windbloom with respect. Independence is just the first step; if we're left on our own _de facto_, we can just as well be left on our own _de jure_, and then we can at least get the apathetic masses to — "

"Ha! You said it!" laughed Ryoko.

"Said what?"

"'Apathetic masses'. I was waiting for that."

"In any case," continued Fumi, "this is why we need Searrs technology. Windbloom must have something of strategic value_, anything. _Trade routes, factories, army, this goes without saying, but HiME can become that one special advantage. They've been here all this time, as we see now, but they haven't intervened. Say, Ryoko, you've been a guest of Searrs — have you seen a HiME in action?"

"I've _been _one," said Ryoko. "Very briefly, though."

"How powerful are they? Could one of them single-handedly stop the invasion?"

"Probably... But Fumi, why don't you hold a grudge against Searrs at all? They messed with your genetics, made you into someone you weren't supposed to be, a copy of someone you never knew..."

"I am myself," stated Fumi. "If I was born different, it wouldn't have been me. There was another Fumi Himeno some centuries ago, so what? It doesn't make me less than I am."

"Makes sense," agreed Ryoko. "I wish more people lived by that. A pen friend of mine, Haru Imoto, is always complaining, 'Oh, why am I not blonde?' Because everyone in Zipang has black hair, you stupid! Once she even said she'd rather been born a boy..."

Fumi just sighed and nodded.

"Well, the tunnel ends here," observed Ryoko, stepping onto solid concrete floor and looking around. "Which means we must be in the facility now."

"Do you know where to go?" inquired Fumi.

"No, but perhaps Naomi knows? It was her idea to have me here in the first place..."

* * *

In the medical bay, a pristine white room with the obligatory Searrs logo on a wall, Naomi quietly looked upon Adam's lifeless body lying on the table.

"I'm sorry, Chairman, but he's dead," reported the doctor, shaking her head.

"Can't you do something? _Anything?_" asked Naomi desperately.

"I wish we could. It appears to be blood poisoning, originate from an implant in his arm — a lethal outcome was a matter of seconds. Had he been an Otome, the nanomachines would have stopped the intrusion..."

"Don't remind me of that!" said Naomi. "And... I understand."

_I must not cry. I must be strong. I can't allow my emotions to interfere with my mission._

_Wasn't that what you thought last time, Naomi? Don't tell me you weren't touched at all by your father's death. You were, just like any human being would be. Or are you really that heartless?_

_I don't know... It's been easier to bear each time. Uncle David... that time I locked myself in my room and cried for a whole day. It was easier with sister Ruth... easier still with father... and now with Adam._

_You tried to rationalize it each time, didn't you? "They had to die — there can be only two Searrs at a time." "He sacrificed himself for the Golden Millennium." What will you say now? "He wanted to hijack the Otome for his country alone?" Even though you know that all these deaths were pointless and unconnected with their actions, and accidental at times, and there's no such thing as karma, and you're just trying to make it easier for yourself to cope with..._

* * *

"I don't know, Miyu," whispered Naomi, leaning on the android's shoulder in her office. "I realize I should feel something... and I don't. And I can't force myself to. I might as well be a machine... even more machine-like than you, Miyu. Because you've always been so... alive."

"Don't overstrain yourself, Miss," said Miyu gently.

"I just want to end it all, Miyu. Before I lose someone else. I've always said to myself, 'When everything is ready.' And I kept telling myself that it was not ready, that the artificial HiME system had to be polished, that we needed to perfect the Zwei process first, and other factors..."

"There are different stages of readiness," said Miyu. "The core components have been in place for years."

"I know. How many times could I have gone there myself and activated the Harmonium... but I kept delaying the inevitable. Do you think it's time, Miyu?"

"The sooner you end this, the better for you, Miss."

* * *

Ryoko's GEM spoke again. "Fumi, Ryoko, sorry for leaving you alone," apologized Naomi. "I hope you didn't do anything stupid in my absence."

"What do you want?" asked Fumi.

"Where are you?"

"In the Searrs facility in Windbloom, apparently," said Ryoko. "There's nobody around, and the only sign on a wall I can see is 'C-17'."

"Excellent," replied Naomi. "Somewhere on your floor, there should be a door with a glyph, a V with a small circle below. It's the communications room. Find it."

"Here," Ryoko opened the door with the symbol described. In the room behind it, there was a keyboard attached to the opposite wall, which had a big screen on it.

"We're there," said Ryoko. The screen turned on, showing Naomi's face.

"Fumi Himeno," continued Naomi, "Adam Summers is dead. Which means that you, according to the Aries constitution, immediately succeed him as President. In addition, since I know that you desire the power of the Otome — "

"Otome?" repeated Fumi. "Is that what you call them now?"

"Yes. I'm going to give it to you. Then you will be able to defend Windbloom by yourself. In return, I'd like you two to do a small favor for Searrs."

"Depends on what kind of favor it is," said Fumi.

"Nothing morally objectionable. Trust me."

"All right, I'm ready," agreed Ryoko.

"So am I," added Fumi.

"Excellent. Now, Fumi, open the casing; there is a ring in there, Ryoko should put it on and give you her earring and GEM in exchange."

They complied. "What now?" asked Fumi.

"Now, you both place your hands on the casing. It's a universal contractor; it will materialise a second copy of the GEM as needed to establish the contract between you two."

As Ryoko and Fumi placed their hands on different sides of the casing. It began to glow; a small object flew out of it and attached itself to Ryoko's ring. Ryoko looked at it: the ring now had a gemstone inside it, seemingly identical to the GEM on Fumi's ear.

"Now connect a portable audio player to the computer, it should be somewhere in this room," continued Naomi. "I will upload a song to it; it will serve as the activation key to the Harmonium, a Searrs device stored in a remote corner of this facility. I will guide you there."

"A song?" asked Ryoko. "What kind of lame passphrase is a song anyway?"

Naomi blushed. "My ancestors designed it that way. Long story."

* * *

"Well, this is it," said Ryoko. "As for me, all I see is a dusty stone wall with some signs."

"I think this is the moment when I'm supposed to say 'Materialise'," suggested Fumi.

"No, didn't you listen to her? First I kiss your GEM..." Ryoko did exactly this, and the GEM began to glow, "and _then_ you say that. This is how a contract works."

"You got me," smiled Fumi. "Materialise!"

_F.H CONNECTED R.R  
ROBE.PURE WHITE DIAMOND MATERIALISE STANDING BY_

After the Robe appeared, Fumi touched the wall, and it split in half and opened, revealing a large organ-like instrument behind. Ryoko sat down in front of it, put the audio player on the instrument's keyboard and turned it on.

_Mezame wo matsu kuni no mukashi no hanashi  
Sasagemashou mune ni yadoru hikari  
Hoshi ni harukibou ashita ga mieru  
Ai suru hito yo mattete okure_

_Kokoro no mado ni tatsu sadame no yokogao  
Tomoshimashou yume wo mamoru hikari  
Hoshi wa tada hitoro erabe to tsugeru  
Ai suru hito ga watashi wo yobeba kawaru_

_Uruwashiku tachimau kegarena ki hane  
Seoiumashou miko no inochi no hikari  
Hoshi ni naru tame ni umarete wa naranu  
Ai suru hito ni dakarete nemure_

* * *

And the moment the song finished, everyone on the planet — every human being,, male and female, from infants to elders, from Aries to Zipang and from the Ocean of Silence coast to the Far North, the snowy mountain ranges of Artai — simultaneously closed their eyes. So did Ryoko, and Fumi, and back in the Black Valley facility, Naomi, and Mayo, and Shion. Only Miyu was left out; with an understanding expression, she simply approached Naomi, who was sitting with her eyes closed, removed her from her chair, and put her lying on a sofa in the same room.

In a few seconds, it was over. Mayo and Shion opened their eyes and looked at their hands in disorientation. "I heard nothing of this plan!" complained Mayo, scratching her head.

But Naomi, unlike everyone else, did not wake up. And Fumi, back in the Harmonium chamber, walked behind Ryoko and waved her hands in front of Ryoko's closed eyes — to no reaction.

Finally, after about a minute, Naomi reopened her eyes, blinked, and leaned on the sofa, struggling to get up, which seemed to require so much effort as if a press had just broken all her bones.

"Miss!" cried Miyu.

"It's over, Miyu," said Naomi sadly.

"What is over?"

"The Golden Millennium. The utopia... I should have known. Maybe I did know, somewhere deep down, that it would end like this. And this is why I tried to delay it."

"What, Miss? What happened?" asked Miyu sympathetically.

"We were there. In this... global... consciousness. In the Harmonium reality... Nowhere. All of us, the entire world... united. But not for long."

Naomi unsteadily stood up and hugged the android. "Just the idea of being together seemed offensive to them. All of them. Universal fear... and universal rejection. Even our own people rejected the program. Few thought it out loud, but I could read the instinctive feelings: the desire to be alone, the fear to lose one's identity and dissolve...

"Really? Wasn't there at least someone left?"

"Nobody, Miyu. Nobody. Even for me, it was a struggle to just keep myself in there. With all my Searrs conditioning, and anticipation, I barely managed... And then she invaded my mind and pulled out all my memories, including those I wanted to forget. She knows it all now... all secrets of Searrs, everything about our games and deceptions..."

Naomi made a pause.

"And all of that for nothing! Retune the world, they said! Our entire history, ever since the defeat of the Precursors, turned out to be pointless, moot! The Foundation ruined thousands of lives, and all of them in vain!"

"But Miss — "

* * *

"Where is he?!" shouted Ryoko, striking the Harmonium keyboard so violently that a real musical instrument probably wouldn't stand such barbarous treatment. "Where is my husband, Naomi?! What have you done to him?!!"

Fumi backed away slowly, looking as Ryoko's eyes began to glow...

She couldn't see how an enormous hurricane formed above Windbloom, with a vaguely humanoid shape inside it, and, not touching the city proper as if it was protected by some magical shield, it went through the outskirts, ripping trees out of the ground, crushing Artai jets in the sky, and spreading clouds of dust and debris...

And a sudden burst of wind tossed Fumi herself, almost ready to collapse from sheer horror, through the ceiling and out of the underground facility, high into the air above Windbloom. She checked her Robe's limb rings, realizing now that they allowed her to fly...

_F.H CONNECTED HARMONIUM  
MATERIALISE  
ZWEI  
ULTIMATE PURE WHITE  
standing by_

Fumi's bleak, inexpressive white-and-grey Robe turned wholly white, and its design changed almost completely, now featuring a cleavage in the chest area, long flaps and fan-like headwear. Two white wings sprouted behind her back.

The citizens of Windbloom — those of them who were not asleep by that time — looked at her from below in sheer amazement...

* * *

"Chairman, the Pure White Diamond has reached its two-point-zero form!" said Shion. "Your orders?"

"Never mind the Pure White Diamond. What is the status of Fuka Zwei?" asked Miyu.

"Lost. No signal, appears to be heavily dam— Wait... the same is happening in Artai. And I detect a funnel appro— "

"Hang on, Miyu," interrupted Mayo, "since when are you the one giving orders? Where's the Chairman?"

"Miss is in no state to speak coherently," responded Miyu.

"Searrs... is no more," murmured Naomi weakly. "All our beliefs... crushed. I... no longer... want to... live."

"No, Miss!" shouted Miyu. "You cannot self-terminate!"

"We'll all die, Miyu... soon. And so will I."

"No, Miss. Not today."

Miyu started to run, carrying Naomi in her arms, despite the Chairman's attempts to break loose.

Upon reaching the window which Naomi and Ryoko looked into several hours ago, she pressed a hidden switch, causing the window to dissolve, and jumped out. The Bifröst terminal was right below; Miyu ran to it at impossible speed, then into the building, where she touched a wall, causing a hidden keypad (similar to those used for dialing) to appear out of it and pressed ten keys on it.

"You live not only for yourself, Miss, and not only for the Foundation — but for me, too. Never forget about that. If I have to force you to live, so be it."

Having said that, Miyu walked into the pitch-black doorway, vanishing from sight. Out of a dark corner, a shadow emerged and silently followed them; in shape, it had a clear resemblance to Mikoto...

* * *

Back in the Searrs headquarters...

"Do you really think we have a chance against the Harmonium?" asked Mayo desperately.

"No," said Shion. "There are too few of us. Too few..."

She paused.

"But I'm not going to give up. I'll preserve the two of us... as SELF images. To replace the two we took out of the system..."

"Well, who knows?" smiled Mayo. "There'll be another Shion and another Mayo in, what, three hundred years? With this thought, I'm not even afraid to die..."

"Neither am I," concurred Shion. "I just hope their lives will turn out to be happier than ours."

* * *

"What? You don't remember anything?" asked Fumi, dragging Ryoko out of rubble.

"No..."

"This is strange, because neither do I. Last thing I remember, Wataru was dragged away and then we descended... and after that, nothing."

"Same here," said Ryoko. "My memories stop almost at the same moment. I know we did something after that, together, and Naomi was involved... but I don't remember what. And you know..."

"Know what?" asked Fumi.

"I feel that I probably won't remember the next few hours as well..."

**THE END**


	7. Behind the Scenes

**BEHIND THE SCENES**

**Spoilers below.**

For the record: I don't think that Mai-HiME and Mai-Otome are supposed to be canonically related. It's just an epileptic tree, an idea I noticed and ran with. Unlike the Doctor Who story, I didn't initially have any plot in mind, and whatever plot is present is just a thinly-veiled excuse for a massive retcon.

The core idea was based on a post by Exaar on the AnimeNewsNetwork forums. Since FFN doesn't support links, I'll just give the text to Google for: _"__The Origin of Otomes"_ (sic, as a phrase). The Otome are artificial HiME developed by Searrs, using Mikoto as a prototype. I didn't think about it until now, but this may be the reason why the Otome only have Elements, not Childs!

The ideas from that post I _didn't_ use were the theories that Nagi in Otome is the same one as in HiME (Miyu and Mikoto are the same, but not him: in fact, I killed off the original Nagi simply to make it bloody clear) and that the world of Mai-Otome is Earth. Because it made no sense to me.

After I settled with the timeline (300 years before Mai-Otome, in Fumi's time), there was the question: how soon after Mai-HiME the story takes place, and how did humans colonize Earl? Originally, I planned Searrs to develop actual space travel, but after I rewatched Mai-HiME episode 26, an alternate solution presented itself: the door Nagi and Mashiro entered. I decided to make it a node of a interplanetary portal network, akin to the one in Stargate, although I hadn't actually _seen_ any of Stargate until after I wrote the first two chapters and the interlude.

And to think that my original idea had the older Searrs (Jonathan) die on a _space station orbiting Earl_...

The Harmonium was one thing I was long unsure of how to integrate it properly, and everything regarding it was basically made up on the spot. My original idea was for the Harmonium to be used to deal with some threat against Searrs; however, I wasn't sure how exactly Searrs would end. The Foundation had to go to make way for the Otomeverse as we know it, but the means to terminate its existence weren't readily apparent.

So, what about [insert HiME/Otome mystery here...?

**The Obsidian Prince and the Administar:** I explored that in TFC/TMF, to a degree. More will be revealed about the "Precursors" in later stories.

**The door at the end of HiME, and the Fuka Academy look-alikes in Otome:** Those are Bifröst terminals. "Bifröst" is the Searrs designation for an already existing system (although the Fuka Academy replicas were built by Searrs), named after the bridge between Asgard (no, not from Stargate — I didn't even know about them) and Midgard in Norse mythology. Under the shade of the tree Yggdrasil, no less — so it suits Miyu. By Zwei, there were only two terminals left on Earl: one in the Black Valley (which used to be the one connected to Earth until Miyu severed the link) and another one in Artai. Local teleportation between them, however, is still possible.

**Mikoto: **Kidnapped by Searrs and put in stasis until the Administar went fully operational. As the Crystal Princess, her life continued to be prolonged by the Administar even after Searrs disabled the "carnival mode".

**HiME/Otome doppelgangers: **Handwaved to be an embryo DNA manipulation system provided by the Administar. This is perhaps the single most gross piece of technobabble I put in there; just figure that it's the same mechanism that allowed the original HiME Star to produce exactly 12 HiME in a limited timeframe — except instead of infusing the HiME genes, it infuses _everything but _the HiME genes, ensuring that the genetic copies will not have natural HiME capabilitiesThe acronym "SELF" actually stands for something — it will be revealed along the way.

**Harmonium: **Obviously built by Searrs, as a key component of the Golden Millennium project. Its purpose was to

**Zwei GEMs: **Only four of them are featured, and it's hinted that it's a relatively new, experimental process that Searrs only began to develop. There'll be more to that.

The four known Zwei GEMs are, in chronological order of Zwei-ification:

Blue Sky Sapphire

Pure White Diamond (created as Zwei)

Ultimate Black Diamond (created as Zwei)

Neptune Emerald (formerly Natural Balance Emerald)

The silly interlude was written almost immediately after Zwei 4 came out, forcing me to invent some tricky retcons to reconcile what I already wrote with canon. This includes Mayo and Shion, as well as the Neptune Emerald GEM after I introduced a different Emerald GEM. So, to clarify: in this "fan verse", the Mayo (Raquel Mayol, actually) and Shion of S.ifr are SELF images of the ones from this story, and the Natural Balance Emerald was renamed.

Regarding characters:

**Wataru**, basically, wrote himself in when I needed an advisor for Fumi. Wataru Ishigami from Mai-HiME was just that charismatic, too big an opportunity to miss! (Ishigami "stone god" - Steingott. Of course, it turned out that the name had a different kanji, 上 "top, up" instead of 神 "god". An example of me not doing research. Shame on me.) And, for that matter, the whole subplot with the Wheel was made up on the fly. I just needed something to create the impression of a bigger world, aside from just Searrs and Ryoko.

**Ryoko**, well... I needed "the clueless newcomer" character for the second chapter, for Naomi-tachi to provide some exposition to. I had no personality for her in mind. What I _didn't_ want her to be was an angsty person with a grudge, so I made her reasonably accomplished — married and with a job; I forgot to state it, so I'll mention it here, Ryoko is a barber. For no particular reason. The name was derived from the kanji 了, which I decided to use in the title early on, after I added "-ko", a common female name suffix. I didn't actually know (until I started the third chapter) that the kanji commonly used for it, 子, was visually similar to 了, but it worked in my favor. So she became Ryōko, 了子 (I was pleasantly surprised that these kanji actually _do_ form a valid name), and has the distinction of being the only character in the story (apart from Miyu and Mikoto in the past) to have her name written with kanji instead of katakana. Particularly astute readers may have guessed who Ryoko will become later on... well, all I can say is that she has far to go before that happens!

With **Searrs**, which is for all intents and purposes a classic ancient conspiracy, I wanted to have leader figures that hadn't been done to death. I decided on the name **"Jonathan"** early on (after Jonathan Kent, Superman's adoptive father) and portrayed him as energetic and impatient. **Naomi**'s name was something I settled on later. I liked it because it was a name that existed in both English and Japanese... and in Hebrew, as it turned out. The name idea came from the character Naomi Armitage, from whom Brigadier General Haruka Armitage got her last name in Mai-Otome. (No relation to Nao intended — although who knows, her father may well have called her "Nao-chan"!) Poor Naomi, by the way. She had a traumatic childhood and traumatic teenage life, and her current life isn't any easier, yet the Searrs conditioning, which treats people as expendable, dominates her personality most of the time. And now she has distanced herself from everyone, but feels the need to occasionally help someone just so she wouldn't regard herself as completely useless and heartless...

**Miyu** and **Mikoto** are written more or less according to the canonical characterizations. I hope...

**Fumi** needed to be someone important, obviously — how else would she found Garderobe? In sheer contrast to the shy, subservient Fumi of Mai-HiME, Mai-Otome overclocked the Founder's cult of personality to dangerous levels. I'll later get to the reasons why Garderobe did what it did — when I get to Garderobe, that is. For now, Fumi is a politician — but the most important thing I wanted to establish was her being a normal human, like any Otome in Mai-Otome, not some kind of goddess. Also, she's somewhat insecure in her position and needs Wataru's support to cope with her role — simply for psychological reasons.

Regarding the Searrs terminology confusion about HiME/Valkyries/type 2/Z-type/Otome: the word "HiME" (Highly-advanced Materialising Equipment, if someone forgot) refers to all individuals with the power to manipulate higher-order matter (with the help of the Guiding Star/HiME Star/Administar), while "Valkyrie" is a more specific term applying only to those for whom it's an inborn ability (via the HiME genotype). The 13 original HiME, including Alyssa, are all Valkyries, but nanomachine-powered HiME are not.

The Otome, or 乙-type HiME, are "defective" in the eyes of Searrs because of the nanomachine vulnerability (I elaborated on that, as well as the origin of the term "Otome", in chapter 3). "Proper" Otome-type HiME with "fixed" nanomachines would be regarded by Searrs as type 2, while the 12 natural HiME are type 0, Alyssa is type 1, and Midori (in Mai-Otome) is type 3.

* * *

**TRIVIA**

**Chapter 1**

The chapter title "The End of HiME" refers to **"The End of Evangelion"**, the immortal downer ending. There are a few more Evangelion references throughout the story; for instance, the words in square brackets are to be interpreted as "white text on black" screens in the Evangelion opening.

The **"United Nations Intelligence Taskforce"** is a throwaway reference to Doctor Who. I didn't plan a crossover with Doctor Who at that point, but now, yes, it's supposed to be the good old UNIT, still kicking in the year 2305.

Judging by **"Zeroth"**, Searrs has a habit of starting numbering from 0. So, if Alyssa was "Valkyrie No. 143", she may have actually been the 144th - nice round number, twelve times twelve.

**Xelman Greenwood** is named after two users of Wookieepedia, the Star Wars Wiki, and **Miranda Starling** after, well, the Miranda Instant Messenger. Not exactly the best names I ever came up with, but they are throwaway characters...

**Mayo** and **Shion** are both from the Mai-HiME Destiny novel series, with their surnames changed ("otomefied") — originally they were Mayo Kagura and Shion Tennōji. As the Mai-Otome 0 (S.ifr) trailer has shown, I shouldn't have done that... although I eventually found a way to reconcile those unforeseen doppelgangers with the story. Originally, before I settled with these names, I considered Shion being **Doctor Kruger, **Natsuki's ancestor; this is why she has Natsuki's GEM. The actual Kruger family will actually appear later on, though...

The **final scene** with Shion and the stranger is another reference to Doctor Who, or, more precisely, to the Doctor's first encounter with Donna in "Doomsday".

**Chapter 2**

The **perspective switch **from Shion to Ryoko was done before I saw "The Runaway Bride", so it's not related to the fact that it begins from Donna's perspective. Actually, every chapter ends on a **cliffhanger** and then the next one starts with a perspective switch: 2 to 3 from Ryoko to Naomi, and 3 to 4 from Wataru and Ryoko to Fumi.

Mayo has **handcuffs** on, like her "Mai-HiME Destiny" incarnation... except the chain has been cut, allowing her to move her arms freely. Note that in this continuity, the events of Destiny itself never happened. I was going to retcon it into Mayo's dream, but forgot, and on second thought, it's better that I didn't.

The name of **Adam Summers**, the President of Aries, is a reference to Adam Susan (Adam Sutler in the movie) from V for Vendetta. And a reference to Arthur Winters, the US president in, you guessed it, Doctor Who... I later realized that "Summers" was too reminescent of "Searrs", but I had already posted the chapter by then.

**Amazon Girl** is a reference to the following "Calvin and Hobbles" exchange: "Is Amazon Girl's super power the ability to squeeze that figure into that suit? - Nah, they can all do that." The comic itself is a parody of those WWII American propaganda comics (which I despise, by the way) where superheroes humiliate Those Wacky Nazis in every way possible.

**Girasu and Lenro** are anagrams of Garius and Lorne from Neverwinter Nights 2. Which makes Sylvia the equivalent of Torio...

The supposed Japanese name for **Sylvia's GEM** (Natural Balance Emerald) is "Koujousei no Suigyoku" (恒常性の翠玉). It's not a literal translation, as with some other GEM names.

In fact, that entire **comedic scene** with Sylvia blasting the safebox is a shout-out to the Sailor Moon fanfic "Fuzzy Handcuffs" by Baka Gaijin30, found here on FFN.

**Miyu** correcting "robot" with "cybernetic organism", as well as the leg-lifting, are references to Terminator. Duh...

**"Fenton Venice"** is supposed to resemble "Phantom Menace" (Star Wars) when pronounced (it probably doesn't...) — this is because I originally had a more sinister role for him in mind, but the final chapter turned out to be too long even without that.

**Chapter 3**

The chapter name manages to reference **"The Da Vinci Code"**, **"Code Lyoko"** and **"Ranma ½"**, all at the same time (also, it's ¾ because it's chapter 3 of 4... duh). The Ranma reference was even going to be a plot point in the last chapter (not with Ryoko), but I scrapped that because it was already so long I had to split it.

Naomi actually **spells Ryoko's name in katakana and kanji: **Ryōko Ragna - ラグナ・了子 Raguna Ryōko. Japanese name order. "Ragnarök", anyone? It fits the ending.

I'm a bilingual person, I can think and write fluently in both Russian and English, and currently learning Japanese, so I can imagine the **language mish-mash** inside Naomi's head after all of Japanese was dumped into it in a matter of minutes...

**Some translations**: これは私達のチャンスです "kore wa watashi-tachi no _chansu_ desu" "this is our chance". 処女 shojo "virgin", not to be confused with 少女 (shōjo "girl"). 乙女 otome "maiden"... And here comes the origin of the **term "Otome"**! In fact, "舞-乙HiME" (Mai-Otome) was derived from this word, although they threw out the 女, leaving only the 乙. Hence **"****乙****-type HiME"** — or "Z-type", as Naomi calls it, since the kanji indeed resembles the Latin letter Z. It all fits in a convoluted sort of way that deranged people like me (and Naomi) can follow.

And note: **Otome are not necessarily virgins**. Ryoko and her husband had sex before. It's only what happens after becoming an Otome that matters.

**"Voice Only", **well, that's SEELE...

And the name **Hexagon **just suited that building. It's the same one as the Aries presidential residence seen in Mai-Otome and Zwei. Such an obvious rip-off of the real-life Pentagon that it makes me cry... But well, Aries is the spiritual successor of the USA.

**Windbloom** is... part of Aries! At this point, at least. Some people are not happy about it, like Fumi. It's actually the name of the prefecture, so the city is "Wind City, Windbloom". Or "W City, W Prefecture" for Excel Saga fans...

**"Sideways spa" **is a tongue-in-chick term coined by Thefourdotelipsis (from Wookieepedia), referring to Stargates from, well, Stargate. It's a random in-jokey thing. **"Tangerine oppression" **is an utterly meaningless phrase from the unofficial Wookieepedia quote database (Wookiee' QDB).

**Mwende**'s name is a reference to Mwende Window Snyder, Mozilla's chief security expert (nobody calls her Mwende, though — except for legal documents, she's Window).

**Chapter 4**

I had no name in mind for the pilot, so I made one up on the fly. **Russell Whedon** is Russell T. Davies plus Joss Whedon. There will probably be other writer/producer/director-themed names in the future — mostly Japanese because most Western writers/producers/directors have too generic first names.

**"C-17" **is a reference to City 17, from Half-Life 2. Unlike the main Searrs facility (Black Valley), I have no plan for Fuka Zwei, so it's a meaningless number not referring to the area's location in any way. **V with a circle below (V̥) **is an upside-down version of the Giza Stargate point of origin. Random, no special meaning. Your browser probably won't render the composite Unicode glyph correctly, oh well...

* * *

**So, what now? **The founding of Garderobe and the free nation of Windbloom, the original Five Columns, in a future story with the temporary name "Time of Troubles", for now.

The year is 2332, one year after this story, and the Columns are:

**I: Fumi Himeno** (フミ・ヒメノ Fumi Himeno)  
Age: 26  
Origin: Aries (Windbloom)  
GEM: Pure White Diamond (真白なる金剛石 Mashiro naru Kongōseki)

**II: Haru Imoto** (妹春 Imouto Haru)  
Age: 24  
Origin: Zipang  
GEM: Neptune Emerald (海神の翠玉 Watatsumi no Suigyoku)

**III: Tatiana Ching** (タティアナ・チン Tatiana Chin)  
Age: 37  
Origin: Artai  
Affiliation: Garderobe (Column III)  
GEM: Rising Sun Orpiment (朝日の雄黄 Asahi no Yuuou)

**IV: The Exile** (追放人 Tsuihoujin)  
Age: 32  
Origin: Aswad  
GEM: Solitude Tourmaline (孤独の電気石 Kogoku no Denkiseki)

**V: Melanie Styler** (メラニー・スタイラー Meranii Sutairaa)  
Age: 29  
Origin: Cardair  
GEM: Eccentric Fashion Cassiterite (流行の錫石 Ryuukou no Suzuseki)

GEM name translations are deliberately not precise.

I know how preposterious it all sounds, so I'll just stop here. The idea is on the level of "so crazy it might work"... just like the idea for this, finished, story.


End file.
